Tear Drop Eyes
by queenofevilsmirks
Summary: Yellow Diamond comforts Blue Diamond. One-shot in light of the most recent episode, That Will Be All. UPDATE: decided to take this a bit farther after seeing the Wanted one hour special. Will gradually become more AU in the sense that, after the events of Wanted, it will shift to something more non-canon.
1. Part 1

_A/N: I know this is super short lol. Just so y'all know going into this, it is oriented a lot around the episode but for the purpose of this Steven and Greg aren't in the chamber yet. Or they already left. You decide! Point being they're not here for this part (because that would be awkward). There will also be lyrics from the song "What's the Use of Feeling Blue?" featured in this. I don't own none of that, nor the characters._

* * *

"You've got to be joking."

Blue Diamond turned over her shoulder, not so surprised to see Yellow Diamond was the one entering the chamber. The bubbles containing Rose Quartz gems glimmered gently in the light of the stars; Yellow Diamond glared at them as she approached. Her Yellow Pearl trailed behind her daintily, hands clasped behind her back. The small gem jumped right over to Blue Diamond's Pearl's side with a smug look on her face.

"Yellow. What are you-"

"You only just left, and now you're back here again," Yellow Diamond interrupted, face set in a stern glower. Visibly disappointed. "It's time you let this _go_ , Blue. Let _her_ go."

Shaking her head, Blue Diamond wiped away her overflowing tears. "You say that like it's easy," she whispered.

"It _can_ be," Yellow Diamond snapped. Her features suddenly softened and she stepped closer, giant heels clicking on the floor. She clasped her hands behind her back. Blue remained crouched, her back hunched over in grief. Though she had wiped them away it was clear to Yellow that her tears had all but multiplied - her despair was nothing to be made little of. Swallowing a sigh, Yellow Diamond sent a quick glare to the Pearls standing at attention so far below her. "Leave us, Pearls," she ordered dismissively.

"Yes, my Diamond," they said in unison, bending their arms into a diamond shape and bowing. Spinning lithely on their little ballerina feet they turned to exit the room through the giant, pink-colored doorway.

Quiet. Yellow Diamond could hear faint sniffles. Wistful sighs.

She closed the distance between herself and Blue, placing a hand on the other gem's shoulder. Blue Diamond looked up at her with drooping, sad, woeful eyes... then looked down again, as if in shame. Maybe regret. A sigh of her own tumbled past her lips. Her shoulders slumped even further and she leaned forward to wrap her arms around a pillar on the second floor of the chamber, which came up to her chest when she was crouched this low. Behind her she felt Yellow shuffle close again.

"It feels..." Blue Diamond began, but her voice faltered.

"I know you miss her. So do I."

"Yellow," she glanced back over her shoulder, catching the other gem's eye, though Yellow Diamond only gave her a sideways glance, "why won't you just let me grieve?"

Arching a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, Yellow Diamond paused. "You've had plenty of time to grieve," she huffed. "Besides, this isn't the way to do it! You're surrounded by these gems, the kind who _shattered_ her. They all deserve the same fate. And this place, Blue, why do we need to keep it? Her legacy is so much more than just _humans_."

Blue Diamond shook her head ever so slightly, returning her gaze to the little alcove of space in front of her face. "They are such curious creatures, though," she said softly.

Narrowing her eyes, Yellow snapped, "Blue. Look at me."

"What is it, Yellow?" The blue-skinned gem didn't do as her golden counterpart asked her, and her tone of voice remained as wispy and saddened as it tended to.

"I said look at me."

Blue Diamond turned then, slowly standing to her full height. They looked each other in the eye - one cried, the other seemed uncharacteristically nervous. Yellow Diamond's eyes flicked away briefly and Blue felt a hand rest on her hip. It slid around to her lower back and Yellow's arms enveloped her slim body, holding her close. Blue rested her chin on the shoulder before her. A short breath escaped her lips and she shut her wet eyes.

"Yes," Yellow Diamond spoke, voice a bit sharp, "of course we still love her, and we're always thinking of her... but there's nothing else that we can do. Tell me, what's the use of feeling... of feeling..."

"You can say it," Blue whispered.

"What's the use of feeling, Blue?" Yellow snapped. She flinched away a tiny bit, as if she regretted her tone. "There's nothing that will bring her back," she added more softly.

"I know. But, please, Yellow... just give me a few more moments."

"Is there anything I can do?"

They were still standing in their embrace. Blue could feel Yellow's lips close to her ear, even past her white hair. She pulled back just enough to gaze at her features, so much more angular than her own, and brought her hand up to brush the backs of her fingers against the soft skin of Yellow's cheek.

"Kiss me?"

Yellow pecked her on the lips. Blatantly chaste.

The corners of Blue's lips twitched up then in a barely-there smile. "Like you mean it."

Nervously swallowing, Yellow Diamond leaned forward, placing her lips firmly against those smiling ones. Neither moved. Blue let her eyes flutter closed again but Yellow kept hers open, taking in what she could see, so close to her face. While both of them possessed otherworldly power, and every lesser gem could see it, Yellow could hardly get over the sheer _beauty_ that was Blue Diamond. She had an elegance to her that Yellow honestly felt she herself lacked; she was sharp, military-like - even her _hair_ was styled into points and reached no farther than her jaw line. Blue was a mystery shrouded away in her dark blue cloak, but she was also a gentle entity. Her drooping eyes fit the shape of each tear she shed, and thick eyelashes held a drop or two. That was on her better days. Today, though, and even as they stood there - Yellow with her arms around Blue's waist, Blue with her hands resting now on Yellow's shoulders - her tears leaked down her face like rivers. Yellow could feel them against her own cheeks.

She pulled back, disconnecting from Blue's lips, and immediately missed the sensation. Feeling cold. Blue opened her eyes in a dazed manner, settling them confusedly on Yellow's. "Please stop crying," she whispered.

"I'm sorry."

"I just hate to see you this way. It's been so long, after all."

Blue cocked her head to the side; her fingers began playing with Yellow's shoulder pads. "You've got to feel eventually," she stated very matter-of-factly. Disengaging from the other Diamond's hold, she kneeled back into her position on the floor and bowed her head in respect for the one they lost. "If you really hate to see me this way... do something about it."

Yellow narrowed her eyes, eyebrows drawing together into a scowl. She didn't appreciate the hint of challenge to the other's voice. An idea rapidly formed in her mind and she smirked. Once Blue was standing again, seemingly done - for the time being - with her sitting silence in honor of their fallen Diamond, Yellow turned her around and pushed her back against the wall. Their lips reconnected, reinvigorated this time. Yellow Diamond was never one to back down from a challenge - as far as she told herself. There was no other reason she was taking this so far. There couldn't be.

She felt Blue Diamond smile against her and a spark of frustration surged through her. Biting down on her lower lip she prompted a small gasp; with Blue's mouth opened a fraction Yellow slipped her tongue inside. Elegant hands gripped at her angular face. The passion in the kiss grew until those hands slid down past her neck to her shoulders and gently pushed her away. Still, they remained within the same breathing space.

Neither spoke. Blue's eyes met Yellow's, and for the first time since the golden-skinned Diamond arrived, they were dry. Any hints of teasing had left Blue even as she smiled again. Once more she brought her hand up to brush her fingers against Yellow's face.

"I know keeping this zoo won't bring her back," Blue whispered, and Yellow felt a chill crawl up her spine at the warm feeling of her breath hitting her lips. "I know these gems do not deserve this seemingly special treatment I'm giving them. They betrayed her. And yet... I do not believe it fair to shatter all of them. Only one was so directly responsible. What would you have me do, Yellow? I'm not like you. I'm not so terribly interested in war."

"Be that as it may, we must do something," Yellow murmured, casting her gaze downwards. She felt as if she couldn't meet those wide eyes. "I don't-"

Blue's lips against hers once more interrupted her. "Shh," the other gem breathed. "Please, just... no more talking." She leaned back so they were no longer breathing the same air, so close to each other, and the sadness returned strong to her entire being. Yellow felt cold again in the absence of her more intimate touch. "Will you stay with me?"

Yellow Diamond nodded.

"And will you hold me?"

She nodded again.

Blue Diamond leaned forward, and Yellow enveloped her in an embrace. She closed her eyes, feeling a prickle of tears irritate them. To cry around someone like Blue just didn't seem appropriate. Swallowing thickly, she turned to press her nose into Blue's hair.

 _Don't you know I miss her, too_...

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 _A/N: So this is a one-shot... but I'm also kinda-sorta contemplating going a BIT farther. Let me know what you all think! Including whether or not I should add some more. Thanks for reading, please favorite, or follow me for more!_

 _Update: I have decided to go a bit farther in light of most recent episodes (the Wanted one hour special) so I also kinda refreshed this chapter. Nothing major._


	2. Part 2

Tapping absentmindedly at a screen, Yellow Diamond skimmed a report from - actually, she wasn't entirely sure who wrote this or what it was about. She hadn't been absorbing any of the information whatsoever. Scowling to herself, she supposed now was as good a time as any to perhaps take a break. Get out of her chair and take a few steps around the room, just for a moment. Stretch out her brain.

Her brain that was absolutely not consumed by thoughts centered on a certain gem.

A certain blue gem.

Oh, why not just say it? Her thoughts had been consumed by Blue Diamond since she'd visited the other gem at Pink Diamond's old human zoo.

Yellow stood, jaw clenching in irritation. She walked around the room, hands clasped behind her back in a militaristic manner very much like her. She gazed out the window behind her chair - perhaps it was more like a throne, considering its size to the common gem - at the sprawling intricacies of Homeworld. Her kingdom of sorts. No, not just hers. Blue's as well, and Pink's before-... Well.

She glowered down at the floor. It wouldn't be of much help to her to be so distracted. She'd set something in motion based on a report given to her by a Peridot of Facet 2F5L Cut 5XG; the same Peridot who now resided on Earth as an unofficial sentence of exile. The traitor, basically. Then again, while she'd remained _smart_ and _aware_ of the reality of things, she'd been very thorough in her reports. One included information of certain humans Yellow Diamond was just itching to get to. They were close to the rebellion. Rose Quartz's rebellion. Her pitiful little group of traitors, the so-called Crystal Gems. Yellow Diamond was intent on bringing them down, so initially she'd planned on sending just a simple Topaz fusion to get the job done - acquire the humans and bring them back to Homeworld. Then her plans had _somehow_ gotten to Blue Diamond, and she'd received a surprise visit.

The recollection of the visit was both pleasant and bit stomach churning.

 _"You want to send one of your gems to Earth?" Blue Diamond said in ways of a hello, entering the room before the door even opened all the way._

 _Yellow Diamond glanced up from the screen placed aimlessly in her lap, having been going over a few things - business as usual. She sat casually with one leg crossed across the other, but now she felt the need to snap to attention and look alive. Blue had a frazzled air about her. Her slender fingers fidgeted near her chest; far below her, her Pearl peered around one of her legs. Yellow couldn't discern what she may be thinking or feeling since her light blue hair covered her eyes, but she seemed a bit weary. Yellow then glanced to her own Pearl, who sat at her chair below her golden Diamond. She seemed to be very pointedly focused on her work, her mouth screwed up in a bit of a guilty grimace._

 _"Blue. To what do I owe this unannounced visit?" Yellow half-huffed, half-sighed._

 _"That isn't an answer," Blue said._

 _Her voice gave nothing away, and Yellow swallowed around a suddenly dry throat. She hadn't seen the blue-skinned gem since the old zoo. Now, for some_ ridiculous _reason, she was nervous. Incredibly so. She cleared her throat and set her screen to the side. "Yes, I was_ thinking _about it. I was looking more closely at a report filed by the Peridot I sent to Earth to check on the progress of the Cluster. In it she mentioned a handful of humans close to... a certain thing I would very much like to check up on," she said, making sure to keep her tone as diplomatic as possible. Maintain the casual posture. Because no, she was_ not _internally freaking out a little. She propped an elbow on the arm of her chair, resting her chin in her hand._

 _Blue's eyes narrowed, and her thin, elegant eyebrows pinched. She glanced down at her Pearl, even went so far as to shuffle to the side so the smaller gem couldn't hide behind her robe. "Pearl, would you leave us?" she asked. Her eyes glided across the floor to Yellow's Pearl._

 _"Yes, my Diamond," Blue Pearl said, her voice much smoother than the Yellow Pearl's. She made a diamond shape with her arms, bowed, and stepped out._

 _Yellow Pearl looked up at her Diamond questioningly. Yellow Diamond waved a hand, ushering her to join her sister gem. "Yes, my Diamond," she murmured. She too bowed with her arms bent before quickly scurrying out of the room._

 _The door had hardly shut and suddenly Blue Diamond was right in front of Yellow, trapping her in her chair by placing both hands on either side of her, on each armrest. Yellow flinched, hardly noticeably, in surprise. She wasn't particularly fond of the unhappy expression on Blue's face - why, exactly, she wasn't entirely sure. Was it just because she worried Blue wouldn't allow her to go through with the execution of her plan? She knew Blue had her doubts when it came to a whole manner of things, and Yellow was beginning to think she couldn't blame her. Still, she believed this was the right thing to do, and if she had to fight with Blue in order to get that, then... well._

 _"Do you really believe it?" Blue said, voice hardly above a whisper. Regardless Yellow could definitely still hear her - she was so close they were sharing the same breathing space, which brought about a whole manner of memories and thoughts Yellow didn't quite want to deal with right now. "Do you believe that group of rebels is still there? On Earth?"_

 _Yellow forced herself not to swallow again. The other gem's close proximity was sending her nerves on haywire, and she couldn't let that show. "I believe... that there's no harm in checking." Scoffing and rolling her eyes as if in disbelief, Blue straightened and turned away. Yellow leaned forward in a way she hoped conveyed the seriousness of her conviction. "Why else would that Peridot have gone_ rogue _? She was brainwashed by the Crystal Gems-" Blue sent her a minute glare over her shoulder "-and of that I am certain. Is it really that strange of a notion that they might still be there, on Earth? Rose Quartz and her little rebellion. They mean us harm, Blue, and I do not intend on giving them the chance!"_

 _"But do you really know that?" Blue snapped, her voice rising steadily. "Do you really think that what we did-" She abruptly cut herself off. Giant tears sprouted in her eyes._

 _Yellow frowned. "Blue-"_

 _"No," Blue interrupted, turning back around fully and holding a hand up. "No, I don't want to listen to you right now." She sighed heavily and averted her gaze, brows once again pinched, but this time seemingly in thought. Yellow waited, trying rather desperately to do as she was asked and keep her mouth shut for once. She didn't want to, and that had nothing to do with her decision to send a gem to Earth._

 _Because the last time went so well._

 _"If you're going to do this," Blue began, speaking slowly and again with her usual level of volume - although she did_ not _sound happy, "then I will not let you send one of your gems alone. I will send someone from my council with them. Alright?"_

 _Yellow blinked in surprise. "Are you sure?"_

 _"No, Yellow, I'm not," Blue said. "But I'm not going to let you make a mistake."_

 _That sent a slight jab through Yellow's chest, and she cleared her throat on autopilot. It did very little to dislodge the tight sensation now spreading through her entire chest and up her throat. She cleared it again. "Have I made a mistake recently?" she asked, tone probably way too high-pitched. But clearing her throat a_ third _time would just be embarrassing._

 _Blue's expression softened, and she let out a sigh that was more tired than anything. "No, I don't think you have," she murmured._

 _Yellow stood from her chair. She felt nervous again._

 _A slightly amused smile bloomed across Blue's face. Yellow hoped her own didn't show how warm it currently felt. "I'm sorry for barging in like I did," Blue said._

 _Shaking her head, Yellow said, "I'm glad you did." She wasn't sure_ why _she said it._

 _Blue's smile grew. "You are?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"And why is that?"_

 _She could tell the other gem was being playful, but it threw her off some; Blue was subtle, and at times quite hard to read. Her expression actually gave very little to go off of. All Yellow could see was a small smile and a mischievous spark to her tear-drop eyes. Whatever emotions hid behind them were completely unknown._

 _But Yellow was not one to be intimidated, and certainly not_ frightened _, by the unknown._

 _She stepped forward, closing the distance between herself and Blue. Part of her panicked so she wasn't entirely sure what to do with her hands or arms as their lips met, kind of reminiscent of their first kiss in terms of how... innocent it was. Yellow didn't exactly feel much of a need to go farther - which was a lie. She did, but told herself she didn't because of what had gotten her to take it a step farther the last time. She'd felt like she'd been challenged. Now, though, she just wanted to quiet this aching in her chest. Ever since the zoo she'd felt cold in the absence of Blue Diamond. She didn't want to feel that anymore._

 _After another second Blue leaned away a fraction. That smile was_ constant _._

 _"So would it be safe to say you missed me?"_

 _Yellow felt her jaw clench and her face heated up again. She was embarrassed. She felt foolish for thinking - she didn't even know what she was thinking. A vaguely indignant sound escaped her lips as she opened her mouth to respond, but Blue beat her to it._

 _"I hope you did, because_ I _missed_ you _."_

 _Yellow snapped her jaw shut._

 _Blue chuckled wholeheartedly. "Seems I've managed to surprise you twice in one day."_

 _"Twice?"_

 _"The first time," Blue said, something in her voice sending pings of shivers up and down Yellow's spine, "you were sitting down." As if to accentuate her point she gently pushed Yellow back a step and into her chair. She half-stumbled into it, letting out a grunt as she pressed herself into its back. Blue leaned forward with her hands on either side again, trapping her in. This time Yellow acknowledged that she was quite alright with being trapped. Blue smiled, still with that playful note, although now there was a hint of... want, maybe?_

 _"I did miss you," Yellow found herself saying. It was worth it to see the way Blue's smile changed; it became unexpectedly fond, but Yellow didn't get a good look at it. The other gem leaned forward to bury her face in the crook of the golden-skinned gem's neck. She sighed._

 _"You could have talked to me sooner."_

 _"And say what?" Yellow scoffed lightly, admittedly upset with herself though she tried not to outwardly show it. "That... that I miss being near you? That I miss the feel of your lips against mine?" She cleared her throat awkwardly. Why had she said_ that _?_

 _Blue didn't lean back from her position nuzzled into Yellow's neck. Again, she sighed. "Who would have guessed my darling Yellow would actually pine for me," she murmured._

 _"Now look who's surprised," Yellow half-huffed._

 _Blue let out a breathy laugh. She leaned away then, slowly, tickling Yellow's neck a little bit with the way her silky white hair drifted across her skin. Yellow felt her lower lip give a small, hopefully unseen tremor as they made eye-contact._

 _She glanced away. It was too... difficult. "Who would you like to send to Earth?" she asked softly, tone a bit weak. "I was going to send a Topaz fusion."_

 _"I have a certain Aquamarine in mind. I'll send her with," Blue said stiffly._

 _"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel obligated-"_

 _"Well I do." Blue stepped away, crossing her arms loosely across her chest. She tilted her chin up and Yellow frowned. What had she done wrong? "Sending that Peridot didn't go so well, and sending her back with an escort and an informant didn't work, either! That planet is already doomed, so why - why must you keep bringing it up?!" She threw her arms up in the air; a radiant wave of blue erupted from her being and washed across the room. Yellow stiffened on instinct and tried to blink back the urge of tears before they formed. Blue, on the other hand, hid her face with her hands and started crying gently._

 _"Blue-"_

 _"I've had enough of this... this_ pain _, Yellow," she interrupted. "But I don't know what to do. We cannot simply ignore the planet, and if Rose Quartz remains there with her rebellion..."_

 _Yellow stood, holding a hand out. She retracted it at the last second, right before Blue dropped her hands from her face and looked up. "If they remain there, we'll find them. And we will destroy them. I will inform the Topaz fusion and your Aquamarine to find a certain list of humans detailed briefly in a report from the traitorous Peridot. Perhaps that will get Rose Quartz to come out of hiding and face up to what she's done."_

 _Blue grimaced. "You think that will really bring us peace?"_

Yellow hadn't had an answer for her. She'd quickly dismissed her fellow gem with a lie about needing to go somewhere or another, some business needed to be taken care of - it felt awful to lie, and it felt even worse to leave her. Now she stood alone in the same room with no hopes of Blue coming for another surprise visit.

The Topaz and Aquamarine had left for Earth quite recently, and Yellow Diamond wasn't entirely sure how long they'd be. Certainly it couldn't be that difficult to find those humans; her worry was more of whether or not Rose Quartz or any of the Crystal Gems would be found.

She sat down at her chair again and picked up her screen, grumbling to herself under her breath. It shouldn't be so difficult to focus. Everything was falling into place, and if it hadn't yet, it would. She honestly had nothing to really worry about now. Gazing out her window told her Homeworld was just as it always was, functioning as it always did. Nothing was amiss and none of her subjects knew of the covert mission that Aquamarine and Topaz were on. It was a secret between herself and Blue Diamond.

However the fact remained that she still didn't have an answer for her fellow gem. She had no idea what would bring them peace - if that was even still realistically available to them.

* * *

 _A/N: Decided to take this farther because I noticed a lack of YD/BD fics on this website lol. Don't know how long this will be, but I was inspired by the most recent episodes, so we'll see._


	3. Part 3

Cold seeped into Blue Diamond's skin, though of course it did little to really affect her. The water in this chamber tended to reflect how she felt, and today - as she laid down in the middle of the room, only her face above the water - it was cold and utterly still.

In all honesty she wasn't entirely sure how she felt.

It seemed almost dangerous, to her, to try to make sense of her thoughts and the feelings she was having. Of course _now_ was the time Yellow Diamond decided to be ever so slightly _less_ secretive with her feelings, although Blue had always had an idea of what they were. It was in every lingering, side-eye glance her fellow gem gave her. She couldn't even remember when it had started, since she'd gotten so used to it after so long. Had it been before or after the tragedy on Earth? Before or after Blue sank into a deep pit of grieving despair?

Or was it before or after both of their worlds were turned so upside-down?

Although perhaps Yellow really didn't - well, no, it felt unfair to so much as _think_ that she wasn't upset over Pink Diamond's untimely demise. She was. It was just that no one could be as quite sad as Blue because she was honestly _known_ for having the most intense emotions of any gem, on Homeworld or any other colonized planet. She didn't really pay much mind to the label, but at times she wondered if she had that reputation because how else was she going to make it seem like the both of them - herself and Yellow Diamond - were grieving over Pink? Yellow was so reserved, militaristic, a "no emotions" type of gem. Blue sometimes felt like she needed to make up for her cold, stony exterior by being outwardly saddened a lot of the time.

But certainly not _all_ of the time, and really quite rarely in front of her subjects. Her Pearl was honestly the only one who saw her displaying her rawest of emotions, but oh how Pearls liked to speak and brag about their owners. Blue didn't doubt that her Pearl had spoken to Yellow's Pearl time and time again about how compassionate she was simply because she often cried over the thought of Pink and her death. Not that any gem would admit that a Pearl had told them something so private about a Diamond.

Still, a good part of her was bitter that _now_ was the time Yellow was - what could she really describe it as, _opening up_? That wasn't quite it, but it was just about the best Blue could come up with. After what happened at the zoo... that had been the tip over the edge. Typically, Blue would have assumed that any _vague_ admission to any existing feelings - she _knew_ there had been something beyond the kisses they shared that wasn't just comfort - wouldn't have been such a bad thing, but of course then they'd had that strange visit from a Sapphire. Blue's Holly Blue Agate stationed at the zoo to take care of Pink's Amethysts and keep things in order had said the Sapphire came with another human, right after Blue herself had brought one to the zoo. Had the Sapphire really known Blue wanted as many pieces of Pink's legacy as she could get, before the planet was destroyed? The whole interaction had just seemed odd, but she couldn't place her finger on _why_.

And then Yellow had decided to send one of her gems to Earth, to follow up on a report the disgraced Peridot had sent near the very beginning of her mission to check on the Cluster. The moment Blue had heard of that she'd worried what Yellow's intentions _were_ , exactly. She hoped that two of their gems - more like three, she supposed - would be able to make the mission a clean one, cleaner than what had become of the Jasper they'd sent with the Peridot, back to Earth with their Lapis Lazuli informant. _How_ on Homeworld had that gone so poorly? What was it about the Crystal Gems that they could still recruit modern, loyal-to-a-fault gems? And not just any gems, but one of Yellow's; Blue was keenly aware of how Yellow grilled into her subjects the importance of loyalty to her, more so than any other Diamond had or probably ever would. Was it just because she was fearful that she might meet the same fate as Pink Diamond? And of course the Jasper they'd sent had been one of Pink's, and although she'd been reassigned to Yellow there was a collective idea that any and all of Pink's former gems were still loyal to _her_ and her alone. While they served under Yellow, she wasn't _their_ Diamond.

So how had that Jasper fallen to the Crystal Gems? Was she a traitor as well, or did they shatter her in her resistance to join? Bubble her? Trap her?

The questions felt endless, and Blue felt a headache forming, the kind that not even the water surrounding her could soothe. She shut her eyes tight and took a deep breath. It wasn't exactly one of her favorite past times, thinking about all the things that had inexplicably and suddenly been going wrong. When had it started? She recalled the curiosity she'd felt when that Lapis Lazuli had showed up, one she didn't explicitly remember so well; the poor thing had been so confused by the advancements Homeworld had made, and Blue had gathered she'd been off-planet for quite awhile. She'd been shocked to learn the Lapis Lazuli had been on _Earth_ of all other planets, which made her weary. What had one of her gems been doing there for so long? She hadn't been able to get many answers out of her, and now she was most likely _back_ on Earth. Blue didn't claim to know if she was ever coming home this time. Logically, she assumed if there really was anything left of the Crystal Gems, that they'd gotten to her. They'd obviously gotten to the Peridot, though maybe that wasn't such a surprise.

After the Lapis Lazuli there were the repeatedly failed missions in relation to the Cluster. Then Yellow had sent a team of Rubies to find Jasper, and they had yet to return, after all this time. Blue supposed Earth really wasn't that bad - she certainly understood why Pink had liked it so much - but she still didn't _quite_ get the appeal to stay there for long, extended periods of time. Maybe that was also because she couldn't stand being there after a certain while because the memories of Pink were too great and too painful there. Even more so than when she visited the zoo, although really the zoo merely conflicted her. Was Yellow right? Did all Rose Quartz gems deserve to be shattered because of what _one_ Rose Quartz had done?

"What is so special about the Earth?" Blue wondered aloud.

She picked her head up a bit so she could look over the edge of the gigantic pool dominating the chamber; a few paces away - for her, not necessarily any other gem - stood her Pearl, attentively, at the door. The small, light-blue gem didn't make any sign that she had heard what her Diamond had said, though she probably had and just didn't deem it her right to respond. But Blue wanted answers now, as many as she could get. Her Pearl sensed her gaze and picked her head up a bit, her chin having been resting on her chest as she stared politely at the floor, hands clasped in front of herself.

"Pearl," Blue said.

"Yes, my Diamond?" was the anticipated, soft response.

"Could you please send a ship to the Human Zoo and retrieve the Holly Blue Agate in charge? Leave a replacement until I allow her to return."

Her Pearl bowed. "Yes, my Diamond." She turned to the door, opened it, and slipped out. Blue waited until it closed before slipping back fully into the water, submerging her face. She let her eyes close and waited for her Pearl to return.

* * *

After quite a decent while - after all, the zoo wasn't exactly close to Homeworld, but more so to Earth - Blue heard the door open. She sat up just enough so that she wouldn't have to crane her neck and observed her Pearl entering with the Holly Blue Agate from the zoo.

The poor thing looked immensely nervous, though it was obvious she was taking great pains to hide it in the face of her Diamond. Her arms snapped into position and she bowed. "You sent for me, my Diamond?" she said, voice wavering just a touch.

"Leave us, Pearl," Blue said, and her Pearl obeyed instantly. Holly Blue Agate remained in a bowed position; Blue arched an eyebrow and removed one arm from the water, moving some hair out of her eyes. "I want you to tell me exactly what happened at the zoo, the last time I was there," she ordered.

Holly Blue quivered a touch, like she wanted to stand up straight. After a second longer she finally did, a nervous grimace pulling at her face. Her arms dropped rigid to her sides. "Well, my luminous, compassionate Diamond, you came and dropped off a human from Earth, as of course you know, in all your wondrous knowledge! Then, shortly thereafter, a Sapphire arrived with her Pearl, a Ruby guard, another Amethyst of all things, and a second human for the zoo! She requested a tour as opposed to simply dropping the human off and leaving. I-"

"Why is that?" Blue interrupted.

Holly Blue stiffened, either from surprise or not having been expecting the interruption - possibly both. She appeared flummoxed for a moment, mouth hanging agape as she was silent. Then she cleared her throat. "Wh-why is what, my Diamond?" she asked.

"Did she give any reason for wanting a tour of the zoo?"

"Ah," Holly Blue stammered, "she claimed she did not want to have come so far and not see the famous establishment."

"But," Blue said, chest deflating with a breath, "as a Sapphire, she would have seen the possibility of what would happen had she stayed for such a thing. She would have gotten the tour without even actually going through it. Certainly, as a member of my court, she would have had better things to do." In truth, Blue hadn't been able to recall necessarily which Sapphire it had been; she made it a point to be more or less personal with all her gems, at least in terms of knowing where they were if she'd sent them to do something.

"Y-yes, my Diamond, of course," Holly Blue said shrilly. She tapped her heels together in another show of anxiety. "How smart of you to make that observation!"

Blue just barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Oh, but she remembered _this_ particular Holly Blue Agate. She waved a hand. "Continue."

"When one of the Amethysts came to me to inform me you would be returning, I sent the human into the zoo and took the Sapphire, her Ruby, and her Pearl to you, so you - in all your graciousness - could thank her personally. My apologies if I had interrupted you and Yellow Diamond," Holly Blue said. "I was not expecting to see the both of you, but my, it was such a treat! To think the both of you wanted to check on the zoo! I am truly honored."

Blue glanced up at the ceiling. "Have you ever heard of any gem, in any court, acting upon a _guess_?" she asked.

"...Pardon me, my Diamond, but I'm afraid I do not understand the question."

"The Sapphire said she foresaw me desiring more humans. But why would she act upon that premonition without a direct order from myself?" She glanced back down at the quivering Holly Blue Agate, feeling the temperature in the room decline a bit more. "Why wouldn't she have waited for a personal request from _her Diamond_?"

Holly Blue grimaced again, like she truly couldn't believe her luck. "Ah, I-I am not sure, my Diamond. Perhaps she foresaw your... gratitude?"

"Tell me," Blue said, switching gears, "what was her demeanor?"

"Her-?"

"What did she act like?"

"Ah," Holly Blue stammered, mouth flapping. "Like... a Sapphire?"

Blue sighed in irritation. "Did she appear nervous, for any reason? Perhaps because she _foresaw_ I would eventually become concerned about the reasons behind her spontaneous, unprecedented visit?" she snapped.

The gem below her flinched, hands snapping up near her chest. "I feel it is not my, ah, _place_ , my Diamond, to judge someone such as a _Sapphire_ -"

"What happened after you left Yellow Diamond and me?" Blue interrupted, voice rising as she sat up. Holly Blue's cheeks turned slightly silver as she flushed and averted her gaze to the floor, probably more due to the fact that her Diamond never exactly bothered to wear clothes when she was in her pool, although Blue sensed there was _something_ going on. Why else would she seem so _guilty_ underneath all the nervousness? "I refuse to believe that Sapphire left with her little _entourage_ without another word. Surely she must have remarked on the occasion of being in the presence of two Diamonds at once, despite probably having seen it with her future vision. _Surely_ she must have thanked you for your tour of the facilities, and for taking that human off her hands!"

Holly Blue's body shook badly, a low keening noise erupting from her throat. Finally she looked back up, though her eyes were shut, and she wailed, "She was trying to herd both those humans, the one you brought and the one she brought, back into her ship! When I tried to grab the humans she and the Ruby _fused_ , and she, her Pearl, and the Amethyst tied me up with my own weapon - the Pearl told me not to say anything, she had a point in saying I messed up in letting their group of rebels into the facility and-"

She shrieked in surprise as Blue snatched her up from the floor in a hand, to bring her closer to her face and really look her in the eye. "A group of rebels?" she echoed lowly.

"Y-yes!" Holly Blue cried, nodding vehemently. "A thousand apologies, my Diamond, I understand if you wish to poof me and place my gem in a bubble for my immense, unforgivable failure!" With that she burst into sobs.

Blue huffed out a short sigh. "Enough!" she snapped. Holly Blue cut off her crying immediately, though she appeared to struggle with keeping it in check. "Did these rebels say anything about _who_ they are?"

"No, my Diamond, and that is the honest truth!" Holly Blue whined.

Blue felt like her body was shaking, perhaps just as badly as Holly Blue's had been, but for an entirely different reason. Not that she could quite describe it. She gently set the Holly Blue Agate back on the floor, nudging her towards the door. "Fetch my Pearl for me. That will be all. I hope in the future you will never allow such a mistake to happen again," she said. She was not very intent on punishment at the moment; she had more to concern herself with.

"Th-thank you, my Diamond," Holly Blue half-sobbed, bowing. "My kind, merciful Diamond!" she added as she backed up towards the door, fumbling to open it. Before it closed she was replaced by Blue Pearl.

"Find Yellow Diamond's Pearl and tell her I wish to speak with Yellow," Blue said before her Pearl could let any words out of her opened mouth. She simply closed it, bowed, and left again. And in her frustration Blue realized the chamber had grown even colder, making the water on the far edges of the pool freeze over a bit. With some effort she managed to calm herself down just enough so that it didn't freeze over entirely. The chamber was a wonderful thinking place, and in her current mood all she really wanted to do was mull things over and possibly make sense of _whatever_ was going on. Besides, the water was comforting.

She didn't notice the passage of time, only looked up when she heard the door open and saw Yellow step in. Her fellow Diamond glanced around, posture tensing as she undoubtedly noticed the cold to the room. Then her eyes fell on Blue and she blushed. Hard.

"Blue-" she stammered out.

"I was just informed of something quite interesting," Blue interrupted, sliding down into the water a bit more to resume her comfortable, slightly upright position. Yellow instantly averted her eyes to anything that _wasn't_ her. "Do you care to know what it is?"

Yellow cleared her throat. Cleared it again. "Why not?"

Her forced nonchalance was enough to pull Blue from her irritation for about half a second; she felt her lips pull themselves down into a grimace. "The Holly Blue Agate I have stationed in charge at the zoo just told me that a group of rebels infiltrated the zoo and stole back the human I brought, as well as the one the Sapphire and her entourage brought. The group of rebels was, in fact, that very entourage. A Ruby and Sapphire _fusion_ , a Pearl, and an Amethyst. Tell me, Yellow, does any of that ring some semblance of a bell?"

"Well, it is rather common knowledge that Rose Quartz had a very loyal Pearl, and that they were joined by an improper Ruby and Sapphire fusion from-"

"My court," Blue snarled. Yellow's face fell a bit, but she still kept her eyes elsewhere. "That Sapphire was more than just one of mine, she was the Sapphire who allowed a Ruby to fuse with her. The two of them escaped when I declared the Ruby would be broken. I later learned they had joined Rose Quartz."

Yellow's gaze flicked in her direction very briefly. "I would hope you don't blame yourself for the fact that they came to the zoo and-"

"And _I_ would have thought you'd have a stronger reaction to the idea that, in fact, the Crystal Gems appear to still remain at large, protecting the Earth," Blue interrupted once more, feeling her anger rise. Ice grew nearer to her across the water. Yellow glanced over and focused her gaze on it. "After all, isn't that part of the reason we sent two gems there? Those humans in the report have _something_ to do with the Crystal Gems."

"That they do," Yellow muttered.

"Will you _look at me_?!" Blue yelled, abruptly losing any semblance of calm.

Yellow flinched and picked her eyes up. Once more she blushed, lighter this time.

Blue took a breath. "I don't know what it is you _think_ you're doing, but I am steadily losing my patience with you. There is something else going on and I worry to think what it really is. Certainly you cannot stand there and tell me, to my face, that you don't believe there's _something_ happening that neither of us are certain of, or prepared for."

Yellow scowled, a hint of concern entering her expression. "What are you afraid of, Blue? That those rebels will come to Homeworld and shatter the both of us, just like they did with Pink? I would never allow that to happen to you."

Laughing bitterly, Blue shook her head and glanced away. "And isn't that just like _you_ , to suddenly be more open with your feelings when we are facing something so-"

"I resent what you're insinuating," Yellow interrupted, eyes narrowing, but her voice cracked just slightly. She cleared her throat and squared her shoulders, hands resting behind her back in that militaristic pose so like her. Blue scowled at her in frustration. "We have nothing to fear, not together. Those Crystal Gems won't be able to do a _thing_ \- especially not if we have some of their precious humans. I have not yet heard from Aquamarine or Topaz, but I trust them not to get foolishly sucked into the ridiculous hype of those traitors."

Blue stood, slowly. Water dripped down her body, slowly since the room was still so cold and most of the droplets were turning to ice. Yellow immediately glanced up to the ceiling, where her eyes remained as Blue stepped out of the pool and stood right before her. A rush of overwhelming, slightly confusing emotions gushed over Blue and she started to cry.

"I hate you," she whispered.

Yellow's eyebrows jolted upwards in surprise, her eyes snapping onto Blue's. "What?" she practically stammered.

Blue gave her a weak shove. "I hate you."

Now Yellow looked confused and even more concerned. "Blue - What did I _do_? I'm simply trying to protect us - protect _you_! I cannot have you meet the same fate as Pink. I would be unable to live with myself. Surely you agree with me, that Rose Quartz at the _least_ should be punished for what she did!"

"More violence and hatred in the face of such a tragedy is not the answer!" Blue cried.

"Then why do you say you hate _me_? What did I do?!"

"You - you're being an idiot!"

"Blue, please," Yellow pleaded. "Just take a breath. It's alright."

"We're going about this all wrong," Blue snapped, refusing to do as she asked. "And I do not wish to see you for the time being."

Again, Yellow looked surprised, and perhaps even hurt. Blue turned away from her, trying not to cry even more. She picked up her clothes. "Blue, please just tell me what I _did_ ," Yellow said after a moment, tone softer than Blue had expected it to be with such a question. If anything she assumed her fellow gem would _demand_ to know what it was that created this sudden shift in her demeanor. After all, only a few days ago had they last been in the same room and Blue had tried to make the situation a bit playful. She'd had hope for them then.

She wasn't sure she did anymore.

What she _was_ certain of, however, was that even _she_ didn't know how to answer Yellow, definitely not in a way that would satisfy the golden-skinned gem. "I don't know," she replied honestly.

A strong hand grabbed her by the upper arm and yanked her around; her heel spun easily in the water and suddenly she was pressed right up against Yellow, whose eyes widened in something like apology and embarrassment as they very _pointedly_ stayed looking into Blue's. She visibly swallowed - Blue even caught the thick sound of it - and cleared her throat.

"You can't be angry at me for no reason," she said, still with that softness. Blue couldn't help frowning a little. "If you're trying to... to spare my feelings, I don't want you to."

"Is that what you think I'm doing?"

"I don't _know_ what you're doing, and I'm _worried_."

"You should be. But _I'm_ not the one you should be worried about."

Yellow flushed, this time in frustration. "I am not afraid of Rose Quartz and her rebellion. When Topaz and Aquamarine return we will have the upper hand. We can squash them out of existence and be done with this whole affair."

"And that's where I disagree with you," Blue snapped. "Now let me go."

Tense silence filled the air. Neither of them moved. Finally, Yellow's grip loosened on Blue's arm, and she stepped away from the golden-skinned gem. She slipped on a robe and turned for the door, aware of Yellow's gaze burning holes in the back of her head. Outside the door their two Pearls stood nearby, both wearing uncertain, slightly guilty grimaces. Blue assumed they'd been listening in but she was in no mood to really pay attention to that. She started down the hall in the direction of her private chambers, Blue Pearl scampering after her at her feet. She heard the door to the pool close and paused midway down the hall.

Glancing over her shoulder, she settled a glare on Yellow Diamond. "Do not expect me to talk to you for quite some time, and do not come to me." She waited, staring her down.

With a great big sigh, Yellow bowed her head. "As you wish," she said quietly.

* * *

 _A/N: So this is really becoming a much bigger thing than I expected it to be. Except some gradually longer chapters._

 _I'm not entirely certain I know where I'm going with this, and I'm not even sure if I like the idea I DO have for it, so we'll see where this goes lol.  
_


	4. Part 4

_A/N: This chapter is in Steven's POV. I'll be interjecting a FEW chapters like these into the rest of the story to connect what's going on between Homeworld/the Diamonds and Earth/the Crystal Gems. For this chapter I used a lot of direct dialogue from the episodes "Are You My Dad" and "I Am My Mom", and I **DO NOT** own any of it!_

* * *

I looked in the direction of the mailbox. Still no Jamie.

I let out a big sigh, slumping my shoulders. Jamie was usually so much more punctual - or maybe I was just impatient. Either way, I was getting a little worried. Even if he was ever a minute or so late, that was always it. According to my phone, it was getting to be nearly a half hour later than when he usually came by to deliver the mail.

"What's with the long face, Ste-man?" Amethyst asked, nudging my shoulder with hers.

I sighed again. "I'm waiting for a package - I ordered this pair of khakis from The Distinguished Boy, and they should have arrived by now! I'm sorta worried. Jamie is never late like this." I pouted; Amethyst smirked in amusement. "I'm a distinguished boy, aren't I?"

She laughed and affectionately punched my arm. "Hey, maybe it'll cheer you up if you're not waiting on an empty stomach. Why don't you go trade these magic beans for a donut?" She pulled a can of beans out from a cooler she was toting around, which appeared to be full of similar cans. I gave her an odd look.

"You've been drinking beans?" I said.

"They're good for the heart," she retorted with an easy shrug.

I quirked an eyebrow. "Well, I know for a fact that the Big Donut doesn't accept magic beans as currency... but yeah, I'll go get us a donut."

"Oh, Steven!" Pearl called from across the beach, nearer to the water, as I angled myself in the direction of the Big Donut. "Look! We've made a small house. For crabs!" she said proudly, gesturing to an impressive sand castle beside her.

Garnet picked up two crabs and set them in the castle. "Welcome to your new home," she said, and she and Pearl laughed a little. I grinned, happy to see that everyone was in a good, calm mood. Considering all the things we've been going through recently... it was nice to have a break. I waved to Amethyst and headed for the Big Donut.

* * *

"I can't believe people are just going _missing_ ," Connie said as we walked; she hopped on top of a big rock and peered around us. We were in the forest, nearing the spot where Onion brought me to hang out with him and his friends. After Barb and I realized quite a few people were missing and I ran into that new gem, we were all looking for those who went missing. And also the new gem. She was looking for her dad, which - well, none of the Gems knew _why_ , since I'm the only known gem who has a dad. But still.

"I know," I said, heading onward. Connie got off the rock, my mom's sword bouncing across her back. "It's... worrisome. But we'll find them!" I added. It was a bit hard to feel confident in my own words; I had a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and I wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe it was just because of recent events... I tried to hide it from Connie so she wouldn't be more worried than she already was. Our friends were gone and we didn't know why. And of course it was right when I thought things were just dying down a little - when it felt like things were calm, and like nothing could really go wrong. Not after everything _else_ going wrong. I sighed. I felt like I'd been doing _that_ a lot recently.

"And that new gem... what do you think she means when she says she's looking for her _dad_?" Connie went on, thankfully oblivious to my inner turmoil. It'd be a different story if we were fused. I wanted to keep my current anxieties to myself, for now. They were probably nothing, anyway. Right?

Well, I knew I could always talk to Connie if I needed.

We entered the clearing where Onion brought me, seemingly so long ago. Connie picked up a fallen leaf and crushed it in her hand, allowing the wind to take the bits sailing away. She looked serious, like she always did on a mission. "Yup... there's wind," she said.

"Man..." I said, sort of wrapping my arms around myself. "I feel like I was just here, with Onion and all his friends. Where is he? Poor Sour Cream, missing his brother... And Barb missing her daughter... and her mailman! And this new gem missing her dad! I know what it's like to have your dad taken away... she must be so scared." I closed my eyes, a bit overwhelmed, but opened them upon feeling a hand on my shoulder.

"But you got your dad back," Connie said, "and you'll solve this too." I turned to her. "We'll solve this. Together."

"Thanks, Connie," I half-sighed. We shared a smile. "Okay," I said, regaining my confidence, and turned to point generally into the forest around us. "Let's turn these woods upside-down!" Connie nodded and we went in separate directions. "Onion! Lars! Jamie!" I called, laying down on the ground to peer inside a small, hollow log. "You in here delivering packages to some peat moss?"

Behind me I heard Connie whisper-call to me, "Steven, it's the gem!"

I poked my head out of the log, which I had crawled into. "What?"

"She looks _just_ like my drawing!" Connie said. "Come on, you don't have to be afraid! We'll help you," she went on to the gem, who was standing on a branch in a tree above her. She was really small and blue-skinned; her gem was under her left eye, like a tear. Connie spread her arms out. "Jump down into my arms - my body will break your fall!"

The new gem just blinked down at her, face otherwise expressionless. It kind of reminded me of Lapis, considering how she was when we first met outside of the mirror. "Are _you_ my dad?" this gem asked.

Connie's arms dropped down to her sides. Even from the other side of the clearing I could tell she was confused. "What? No. I-I'm not your dad. We can help you _find_ your dad-"

"I'm not looking for _your_ dad, I'm looking for _my_ dad. I need to find _my_ dad," the new gem interrupted.

"Right..." Connie said slowly. "Well... we'll... help you?"

I moved to get out of the log and realized I was stuck. "Connie!" I called, trying to wriggle myself out but to no avail. "Connie, wait, be careful!" I warned, since I was honestly more worried about how strange this new gem was acting than how stuck I seemed to be.

"Connie?" the gem said. Then she grinned. "Are you Connie?"

"Yes!" Connie said excitedly. "I'm Connie! Me, Connie. Connie, friend."

The gem giggled, and a pair of wings made of water sprouted from her back. She hopped off the tree branch. "Topaz!" she called. "I found one! I found one! I found a Connie!"

Connie now looked weary. "Steven..."

"Connie!" I grunted, still trying to get out of the log. There was suddenly a loud, rumbling sort of sound; it startled a nearby flock of birds from the trees, obviously approaching. I froze and watched - Connie drew her sword. This _huge_ yellow-skinned gem emerged from the tree line, but I was less surprised to see yet another gem than I was to see everyone who was missing were somehow melded into her body. Sadie, in the gem's shoulder, banged her chest uselessly. Most of them were stuck in such a way that their mouths were in the gem's body, rendering them unable to talk. Except for Onion, in the gem's other shoulder, but he couldn't really talk with explicit words to begin with. The gem herself had a stoic, frightening expression.

"Another gem!" Connie half-cried, backing up towards me - still in the log - with her sword raised. "She - she has everyone!"

"Let them go!" I yelled. I'd managed to more or less get my arms free.

The new gem glowed and separated into two - so this was s fusion of one same gem. They both held our friends in their arms and started running forward, grasping each other's hand and cornering Connie between them. Connie yelled and struggled as the two gems glowed again; I saw everyone squirm a little as they moved with the gems' fusing, and once they were done Connie was also trapped in their chest.

"Connie!" I shouted. I slipped down to the end of the log so I could get to my feet, and busted the wood apart. I ran towards the yellow gem.

The blue one reappeared, floating down to rest on the bigger gem's head. "Look at those organics _squirming_ around," she said mockingly.

I summoned my shield. "Give me back my friends!"

The blue gem scowled down at me. "Don't bother listening to that _Steven_ ," she said, waving a hand. "He's not my dad." She reached up and pulled what I thought was a little bow from her hair, standing atop the yellow gem's head; the bow thing became a stiff line in her hand and one tip glowed. She aimed it at me and I was surrounded by this bubble sort of thing. I couldn't move whatsoever! She raised me into the air, giggling, spun me around a few times and then sent me flying into a tree. I hit it hard. "Now all we need is my dad and we're out of here," I heard the blue gem saying as I struggled to pick my head up. There was a ringing in my ears - I knew I wouldn't be able to stay conscious much longer, but I tried to fight it. "I can't believe they wasted an Aquamarine on a job like this. It's _so easy_ , you could have done it yourself, Topaz!" the blue gem said, giggling. She continued to laugh as the yellow gem turned them around and started walking back in the direction she'd come.

"No..." I muttered, "you can't... take them..."

Everything went black.

* * *

When I woke up I went straight back home, hoping the Gems would be there. Thankfully they were; I burst in and yelled, "This is an emergency! There's two new gems, and they've got all my friends! They took them away somewhere!"

The Gems were up and rearing to go, standing in the middle of the room. "Why is Homeworld stealing humans from the boardwalk?" Pearl asked, voice shrill.

"I don't know," I said. My body was still sore from hitting that tree so hard. I rubbed the back of my neck and gazed down at my feet. The panic was starting to really settle in, now that my adrenaline had got me back home. "They're only taking my friends - they even got Connie! If we don't do something they're going to take them into space!"

"And our spaceship got jacked, so if they leave Earth..." Amethyst began, as she and Pearl looked to Garnet.

"They'll be gone for good," Garnet finished for her, tone grim.

"Uh - who were these guys?!" Amethyst asked me

"That little gem I saw before, her name's Aquamarine," I explained, and Pearl interrupted me with a quick, loud, "what?!" before I could continue. "And she's got a big friend, a fusion, named Topaz..." I trailed off.

"A Topaz fusion... and an Aquamarine?!" Pearl echoed.

"Are they a big deal?" Amethyst asked - just what I wanted to know, too.

Pearl's expression was becoming panicked. "Uh, yes!" she cried. "Blue and Yellow Diamond must have sent them _personally_!"

"Diamonds?" I muttered, frowning in thought. "Oh no... they must be collecting more humans for the zoo!"

"But there's loads of humans on Earth..." Amethyst said, surprisingly the calm one of the moment other than Garnet, of course. "Why are they only grabbing your friends?" she asked. A very good point if there ever was one. I paused to think for a second but no real answers came to me, at least not in the moment.

"Maybe... because my friends are the best!" I said. Pearl and Amethyst glanced away from me in that way I knew meant they were secretly a bit pitying of my supposed naïveté. But honestly, I couldn't think of any other reason why _my friends_ were specifically being targeted. Before I could say anything else I felt a vibration in my pocket; I grabbed my phone quickly and gasped at the text I got. "It's from Connie!" I said, opening the message and showing it to the Gems. "I know where they are!"

We ran to the Funland boardwalk, the Gems with their weapons. "Stay alert," Garnet said as we came to a halt. "They could be anywhere..."

"Did Connie send you any more pictures?" Amethyst asked me.

"No, nothing," I said, double-checking my phone anyway just to be really sure.

"Well, we know they're here _somewhere_ ," Pearl said. She and Amethyst followed Garnet at a run deeper onto the boardwalk, but I went in the opposite direction.

"Connie? Lars?" I whisper-called. "Sadie? Onion?!" I sighed and looked back down at my phone, halting my pace. "Why them?" I pressed the call button beside Connie's contact and held it up to my ear; to my surprise I heard Connie's ringtone nearby! I gasped and started running, trying to find it and looking side to side, fearful of those two gems appearing out of nowhere. It was getting dark out by now, the sun just about completely set on the horizon of the ocean, which made me all the more nervous. I finally halted, the ringtone the loudest, and looked down at my feet. There was Connie's phone, just lying on the boardwalk.

The Gems reappeared to my left. "W-was that Connie's phone?!" Pearl yelled.

I heard heavy footsteps and a bit of creaking, and looked over my shoulder; the big gem, Topaz, leaned around the middle of the merry-go-round. She had a really frightening look on her face. Slightly below her, the small gem - Aquamarine - popped out. "Oh, no!" she said mockingly. A big smug grin took over her expression. "You found us!" she added in a sing-song voice. Onion and Sadie, unable to talk since they were smushed inside Topaz's form, leaned around the corner a bit as well.

So did Jamie, but most of his upper body was free. "Help!" he pleaded.

"Give it up, Aquamarine! There's nowhere to run!" I said, backing up a little as the Gems stepped forward so we were bunched up the slightest bit more.

Topaz stepped out, holding Aquamarine in one hand and gripping onto a pole with the other. All my friends trapped in her fused body made muffled noises. "Oh," Aquamarine said, "what's this now? Did you think we were running away?"

"Steven, save yourself!" Jamie said. He squinted. "After you save us!"

"Huh," Aquamarine huffed, pulling her bow off again and snapping it into that wand thing, "you know, now that I think about it, this Steven does seem to know everyone on our list." She exchanged a brief look with Topaz. She then gazed down at me, pointing the wand at me in a vaguely menacing manner. "The list _did_ come from a Steven, after all." I frowned in bemusement, unsure what she meant. "Maybe you can help us out," she added haughtily.

"Just let the humans go!" Garnet said.

Aquamarine placed her hands on her hips. "Uh, no!" She looked again to Topaz. "Who are these dullards?"

"We're the Crystal Gems, you chump!" Amethyst said.

"Yeah, yeah," Aquamarine said, clearly unimpressed; she twirled her wand around. "Rose Quartz's old lackeys. That was in the report, too. We're not here for any of you _rogue_ gems." She shook her head. "We'll leave you _totally alone_... _if_ you can tell us where we can find my dad," she added, turning serious. Topaz shifted into a sort of fighting stance.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I yelled.

"Let's see," Aquamarine said. Her voice was starting to grate on my nerves a little, and I couldn't help being a little distracted by my friends' muffled cries. "Yellow Diamond asked for a My Dad, a Connie, a Lars, a Sadie, a Mailman, and an Onion I Think. Six human variations specified in a report by Peridot 5XG."

I gasped - I understood now. One of the first times I met Peridot, back when she had her limb enhancers and she was trying to check up on the Cluster, I'd tried speaking to her. She - like most gems, I was coming to understand - didn't necessarily get the concept of humans having names, and I'd listed off a few people I knew to inform her that I wasn't just the only human on Earth. "The list," I said, horrified with myself. " _I_ gave them the list..."

"What are you talking about?" Pearl said.

"Aquamarine doesn't have a dad, she's looking for someone _named_ 'my dad'! This is all my fault," I explained weakly.

There was a pause. "Don't worry about that now," Garnet said. I looked back at her. She appeared tense, fists raised. "Our objective's still the same. Beat the gems..."

"Save our friends!" I finished for her, getting into a prepared stance of my own.

"Hey Topaz, look!" Aquamarine said. She was now hovering in the air, so Topaz had dropped her hand. "They want to lose another fight."

Garnet launched into action, surging towards Topaz; she simply moved so Jamie was in the way of where Garnet was aiming for. "No! Garnet, I've moved on, I swear!" Jamie cried, raising an arm uselessly - Garnet skidded to a halt and Topaz grabbed her by the head, throwing her towards Pearl, Amethyst and me. Amethyst sort of tackled me to the ground so I would be out of the way as Pearl ducked, and Garnet flew into one of the stands behind us.

"Garnet!" I called, worried, as I got back to my feet.

"That's dirty!" Amethyst shouted.

Pearl got up as well and leaped into the air. "My spear can reach her _without_ hurting the hostages!" she said, aiming her spear at Topaz as she descended back down.

"Oh, you're so smart," Aquamarine taunted. She was lying on one of the horses on the merry-go-round, and she used her little wand thing to trap Pearl midair in a bubble. "Goodbye," she said, sending Pearl screaming into the sky with a mere flick of her wrist.

Amethyst snapped her whip and it wrapped around Connie's wrists; she tried pulling Topaz down that way, but Topaz just stepped on the whip and caused her to go stumbling forward a bit. She still pulled. Garnet reemerged from the stand she'd crashed into and Aquamarine floated over to Topaz. Pearl landed back down on the boardwalk.

"This is getting annoying," Aquamarine snapped. "Hey, Topaz! Can you remind me? I mean, my memory is perfect, _but_... our orders were to bring back six humans... I'm _just not sure_ , did they specify... _alive_?" She smiled largely. "You know, I don't think they did!" With that Topaz grabbed Jamie by the head in one big hand - if she wanted, she could definitely crush his skull quite easily. Horrendous dread washed over me.

"Jamie," I gasped. We needed a better plan!

"Steven...!" he whined, clearly terrified.

"I just think, if you _care_ about your _friends_ or whatever, you should tell me where My Dad is. Alright?" Aquamarine said.

Pearl and Amethyst moved closer to Garnet and me. "What are we going to do?" Pearl asked, but I hardly heard her. I had an idea, and it was risky, but I had a good feeling it would work - I just needed to get a lot closer to Topaz to do it. I started walking towards her and Aquamarine. "Steven!" Pearl called behind me.

"Stop!" I said. "I know where you can find My Dad."

"Ooooooh," Aquamarine drawled excitedly, bouncing in the air. "Where? Where?"

"Right here. I'm the one you're looking for. _I_ am my dad!" I said.

I could sense the Gems' surprise, even before they shared a chorused, "Huh?!"

Aquamarine frowned. "I know what you're thinking, Topaz; seems a little _suspicious_ that My Dad is also a Steven. But you _know_... if it means getting out of here, I'll believe it."

Topaz glanced to her, then started glowing and unfused right in front of me, holding all my friends in one arm each. "Steven!" Connie yelled. The two Topaz started glowing again and surrounded me, pinning me between them.

"Steven, do you know what you're doing?" Pearl asked behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder and gave her a smirk and a thumbs up, right before Topazes' light overtook me. When it dimmed I found my head poking out of her back, Lars slightly above me. "Oh. Hi Lars!" I greeted him. He said a bunch of muffled things I couldn't understand since his mouth was covered by Topaz's body. "Don't worry," I said. "I'm gonna bust us all out with my _bubble power_!" I struggled to try to summon my bubble from my gem. It was proving to be a lot harder than I anticipated it to be, and I was undoubtedly running out of time. "Her body's so... thick," I groaned. "This might... be a little difficult!"

"Time to go!" I heard Aquamarine say. There was a rumbling sound and the top of the merry-go-round detached; it was a ship. Its door opened like a little drawbridge.

"Uh, Steven, did you actually have a _plan_?! Or..." Amethyst said.

Topaz turned and I could see her and the others again if I opened my eyes, but I was trying hard to concentrate. "Just... need... a minute!" Topaz jumped right up to the door. I couldn't hear what Aquamarine was saying to the Gems, but she flew up to the door blowing a raspberry at them. The door shut after her.

She sighed, sounding tired or irritated. "Let's get back to Homeworld already!"

"But I'm already on my home world! I haven't even delivered all the mail today!" I heard Jamie cry out.

"Don't worry, I can do this," I said. Topaz started walking forward.

"You might want to hurry, Steven! The threat of us perishing in this quagmire of yellow feels very real, a real encompassing kind of real, a neon deathtrap which has imprisoned us so-"

Jamie carried on like that, amidst the others groaning around me; Lars started slapping near my face. "Lars, stop, I'm trying to concentrate!" I said.

I heard Aquamarine groan a little herself, sounding like she was above us. "If I never get sent on another mission to Earth it'll be _too soon_. What an ordeal. But the Diamonds needed me - that's the burden of being the best!"

"What justice is there in this gross tangling of symbols?!" Jamie cried.

"Will you stop?! You're ruining my moment!" Aquamarine yelled back angrily.

"Steven..." Jamie hissed.

"Uh, I almost got it!" I tried harder, and Topaz stopped walking. Then - bam! I sent everyone flying as I finally formed my bubble, forcing the two Topazes to unfuse and release my friends as well as myself.

"What?" Aquamarine barked. "Topaz! Get this mess cleaned up! And - Topaz, help her out! I'm setting a course," she ordered from a seat perched up in the air.

"The door!" I gasped. I heard footsteps approaching me and turned over my shoulder in time to see one of the Topazes summon her weapon from the gem on the left side of her head. I summoned my shield just in time to block it, a club of sorts. Connie had retrieved her sword and joined me in fighting this Topaz.

She ended up rolling over to my side. "Steven! Let's fuse!" she said.

"We're already in the air... how are we going to get back?" I asked, mostly to myself.

Left Topaz twirled her club around and swung it at us; I summoned another bubble to block it, protecting myself and Connie.

She gasped. "Watch out!" she cried, and not a moment later Left Topaz spun around and slammed her club into the other side of the bubble. It popped and we flew backwards a few feet across the floor.

Above us, Aquamarine drawled, "I'd really appreciate you wrap things up down there before we exit the atmosphere."

Meanwhile, while I continued to fight with Left Topaz, Right Topaz had managed to grab Sadie. Connie lunged forward but her sword was blocked. Sadie bit Topaz's finger, and she dropped her, more out of surprise than any actual hurt. She started running away and Connie ordered her to get to the door.

"Topaz! Pull it together and _finish this_ ," Aquamarine ordered.

I saw the two Topazes exchange a glance, and allowed my spiked bubble to pop as Connie came up to my side. "Steven..." she said wearily. Topaz fused again; their club became double sided, and of course they also became _bigger_. Connie and I split up, approaching her.

"Connie! I'm sorry," I said as we fought.

"What are you _talking_ about?" Connie cried back.

"It's my fault you were abducted," I explained, throwing a shield at Topaz's back - she hit the shield I had in hand and sent me skidding away. I let my shield disappear and fell to my hands and knees. "Why everyone was taken... if it weren't for me, the Diamonds wouldn't have come for my friends! If it weren't for my _mom_ , they wouldn't be trying to destroy the Earth!" I half-wailed, an overwhelming disparity I knew all too well by this point flooding down on me. I'd stopped paying attention to my surroundings.

"Steven!" Connie yelled, and I looked up in time to see her block Topaz's club with her sword, saving me from getting crushed. "Focus!"

The ship suddenly shuddered, causing Connie and Topaz to stumble, unbalanced. "What now?" Aquamarine snapped.

"The door!" I said.

"Right," Connie agreed with a nod, and we ran for the door to join the others. I opened it to the sight of all of the Gems fused together. She stood in the ocean, holding the ship down so it couldn't go any higher. "Alexandrite!" Connie said, sounding relieved and slightly surprised.

"Get us close to the water!" I called. "We're gonna jump!"

"What?!" Sadie yelped.

Alexandrite lowered the ship much closer to the water.

"Okay," I said, but before I could get anything else out Onion ran to the edge of the door and dove into the water without any hesitation, even doing a flip or two on the way down. I shook my head - it was just Onion being Onion, and I really didn't have time to worry about his eccentric actions. "Go!" I ordered the others.

"Steven, I seem to be paralyzed with fear," Jamie said at the same moment Connie and Sadie gripped hands and started running for the edge. I picked Jamie up and followed them, tossing him over the edge after they jumped. They didn't make it very far. That blue glow bubble thing from Aquamarine's wand wrapped around all three of them, including Onion and even Alexandrite. I turned - she was hovering behind me. Topaz stood beside her.

"Nice try," she taunted. "But it's hopeless, My Dad," she went on, floating towards me. "I can't go back to Homeworld without getting what the Diamonds want."

I glanced down at my friends, grimacing in a mixture of fear and not knowing what to do to get us all out of this particularly sticky situation. Then it dawned on me - what else could get the Diamonds and Homeworld to stop coming to the Earth? "I'm... not My Dad," I said.

"What?" Aquamarine growled.

"I'm not my dad!" I repeated, this time with more conviction.

Aquamarine clenched her hands into angry fists. "How much longer is this mission going to take?" she said.

"Well, I can end it for you. Right now!" I offered.

"Oh. Really?" she scoffed.

"I'm someone the Diamonds will want more than these humans. The leader of the Crystal Gem rebellion - the gem that shattered Pink Diamond! I'm not my dad. I'm my mom!" I lifted my shirt to expose my gem. "I'm Rose Quartz!"

Aquamarine gasped, and the string of light connecting her wand's power to the others and Alexandrite vanished. "No way..." she whispered.

Connie, Sadie and Jamie all fell into the water; Alexandrite abruptly unfused, and the rest of the Gems fell and joined them. "Steven?!" Connie yelled in confusion.

"No - don't - Steven!" Pearl cried.

"What are you _doing_?!" Amethyst asked.

"I get it now," I said, turning to look down at them all. "I'm the _only one_ who can stop what she started! I can stop all of it!"

"You're wrong!" Garnet shouted. "Steven, get down here!"

I clutched my shirt. "She wouldn't have wanted this!" I said. "But I do."

Amethyst raised a fist into the air. "I'm gonna kick your butt if you don't come down here right now!" she said, voice dissolving into something more fearful sounding.

I paused, looking down at them all for what I knew was going to be the last time. Then I turned and followed Aquamarine and Topaz back into the ship. As the door was closing I heard Connie scream, "No! Don't you dare!"

I turned back over my shoulder for one last look. "I love you."

* * *

 _A/N: Next time we'll be getting back to focusing on Blue and Yellow Diamond. For the trial I'm not going to do what I did for this exactly, taking all the direct dialogue, but that definitely will be one of the upcoming chapters soon.  
_

 _Please keep reviewing, favoriting and following! Hope you all are still enjoying this~_


	5. Part 5

_A/N: Double update! ;)_

* * *

Yellow Diamond threw another screen at the wall. It cracked upon impact, and even more so once it hit the ground. She breathed hard, arms quaking as she clenched her hands into angry fists and did something she hardly ever had to do.

She fought off tears.

It had been weeks since Blue Diamond had called her to her pool - at least one, although it certainly felt like more. Therefore she hadn't seen her fellow Diamond in just as long, and it was starting to get... difficult, for lack of a better word. Her chest had been in a perpetual state of clenched pain, leaving her randomly winded as she tried to go about her usual routine. Key word there being that she _tried_. Every now and then she would be overwhelmed by anger towards herself, or an intense sadness from her separation from Blue. It usually ended in something breaking. Her Pearl had had to clean up many a cracked screen, or a shattered window, even one trashed chair. None of it helped calm the storm roaring in Yellow's head and her chest just continued to clench more and more painfully.

Clamping down on a shrieking yell, Yellow paced the length of her personal chambers. She had thought that maybe it would help if she didn't go into her office to do some work; at least here the only gems who could _possibly_ interrupt her were her Pearl or Blue's Pearl, or Blue herself. She had foolishly hoped that Blue would end this distance just if she spent a day or two working in her chambers instead.

She heard the sound of a door opening, then the very soft patter of her Pearl's feet as she came all the way back into her most personal space. "My Diamond?" Yellow Pearl called from the threshold of the entrance to the room, which was without a door.

A surge of hope very briefly loosened Yellow's chest; she stomped over to the Pearl. "Yes? What is it?" she barked.

Yellow Pearl made a slightly surprised, flinching face at her abrupt and quick approach. It took her a second to gather herself, and she bowed. "I have received word from the Topaz and Aquamarine you and Blue Diamond sent to Earth," she said.

Scowling, Yellow felt her chest tighten even more, to the point where she nearly had to let out a soft, slightly strained gasp. "And?" she prompted.

"They are en route back to Homeworld," her Pearl said. "They have only one of the requested humans-" Yellow snarled loudly, feeling her lip curl back to show her teeth, but her Pearl bravely went on without a hitch in tone "-but Aquamarine assured me that she has someone even better than the other five humans. She has Rose Quartz."

Yellow stiffened. For a few seconds all she could really do was blink - then she crouched down before her Pearl, to get just a bit more on her level. "What?" she muttered.

Her Pearl frowned quickly in what was mostly concern, bringing her hands up to clasp them before her chest. She tried a smile. "They have Rose Quartz on their ship," she reiterated, "and they are bringing her back to Homeworld. I told Aquamarine that I would inform you, and the correct procedures would be planned for me to contact her later and inform her of what to do to with Rose and the single human."

Good or bad news, Yellow never doubted what her Pearl or any other gem had to tell her, never assumed anyone would dare lie to her. If she ever _did_ , she didn't make it seem so to whoever was trying to screw with her - she found out the truth before dealing with them. But that was always different with her Pearl, because her Pearl never had any reason to tell her something that wasn't true, even if she could potentially soften Yellow Diamond's reaction by omitting a fraction of the whole story. So then why did Yellow feel like what she was saying wasn't - _couldn't_ be true? There was no way... or was there?

"Rose Quartz?" she echoed, just to be sure.

Her Pearl nodded vehemently. "Yes, my Diamond, they are returning with _the_ Rose Quartz, leader of the Crystal Gems rebellion on the planet Earth."

"I know which Rose Quartz you're talking about," Yellow growled, standing up straight and walking past her Pearl. She didn't wait to see if she was following or not - undoubtedly she _was_ \- and exited her personal chambers.

She took the quickest route she knew to Blue's office, but didn't find her there. The other Diamond wasn't in her pool, either, nor her own personal chambers. Yellow scowled and wracked her brain for anywhere else Blue might go or be, and eventually just settled on waiting outside her chambers, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. The clusters of sadness in her chest had now been replaced by anxiety. What if Blue still didn't wish to speak to her, much less _see_ her? But this was important, surely she would understand _that_.

Her Pearl settled in beside her and they waited.

Eventually Yellow heard the telltale sound of Blue's cloak drifting over the floor, and she stood, brushing herself off and straightening up her appearance for some reason. She had just finished and held her hands behind her back when Blue Diamond rounded the corner with her own Pearl trailing softly behind her. Blue's attention was focused on the ground, but she looked up almost immediately, most of her face shrouded by the hood of her cloak. She halted and, very slowly, her hands rose to remove the hood.

She didn't say anything, only stared with a blank look to her eyes, and Yellow resisted the urge to clear her throat. "I have news," she managed around a sudden lump in her throat. "May I accompany you inside?" she added with a gesture towards the door to the chambers.

"No," Blue said simply, and she felt a strong jab in her chest. "You can tell me this _news_ right out here. Please make it quick."

Yellow ignored the heaping amounts of _hurt_ she felt and squared her shoulders. "My Pearl has informed me the Aquamarine and Topaz we sent to Earth are returning, with only one of the requested humans and Rose Quartz."

The uninterested, mostly blank expression Blue wore quickly snapped into surprise; her eyebrows rose and for a good while, it seemed, she just stood there. Finally she moved for the door to her chamber, opening it. Yellow assumed that meant the conversation was already over, but a hand suddenly on her chest shoving her inside told her otherwise. She stumbled in backwards with a grunt, only just barely managing to right her balance before she crashed into Blue's chair. The door shut, leaving their Pearls outside.

Blue's chambers were... plusher, more open, but darker. Thick curtains covered any and all windows from a view of the outside, except maybe a small sliver or two. And of course everything in sight was some shade of blue or another. It was built similarly to Yellow's chamber, with a large space in the front and then a back hall that led to a private room. It was styled a bit more rounder to match Blue's personality. Yellow had to blink a few times, squinting, to adjust herself to the dim light while Blue sat down on one of the couches, primly holding her hands in her lap. Her chest rose and fell with a deeply exhaled breath.

" _The_ Rose Quartz, I presume?" she said quietly.

"Of course," Yellow said. "All the rest are bubbled at the zoo-"

"And she's coming here?" Blue interrupted. She looked up from where her gaze had trained itself to the floor. To Yellow's immense relief she didn't appear mad, at least not about her impromptu news; her visit was another matter entirely.

Yellow nodded sharply. "Yes, they should be here in a matter of hours."

Blue eyed her momentarily. "And you came to tell me personally, instead of having your Pearl inform mine?" she said, and the way she phrased it - still as a question - made it sound like she was asking something else. Something more like, "why did _you_ come _here_ when I asked not to see or speak to you?"

"Yes," Yellow practically croaked, and she cleared her throat.

Seconds ticked by as they looked each other in the eye and said nothing. Yellow was preparing to get kicked out, and she was surprised when Blue stood and drifted over to one of the curtained windows. She didn't move the curtains away to look out, just stared at them and rubbed the material between three fingers. Yellow didn't know if it was meant to be a silent way of telling her to get out, so she waited. In silence. She hardly even dared breathe. After awhile she realized her gaze was honed in on the floor like it was the most interesting thing in Homeworld, and suddenly it was becoming really quite hard to fight back all the tears she'd been forcing down ever since her last encounter with Blue. That was actually probably one of the reasons her chest felt so tight.

She tried to sniffle as quietly as possible, and flinched at the ruffling sound of Blue's cloak against the floor, suggesting she'd turned away from the window rather quickly. She bowed her head even farther, hoping then that there was no _way_ Blue would be able to see the tears starting to run down the sides of her nose, dripping to the carpet.

"Yellow," Blue sighed, and her feet appeared in the golden-skinned gem's line of sight. One hand rested on her shoulder while the other fitted under chin, forcing her to pick her head up and meet droopy eyes. Blue smiled slightly but mostly frowned in confusion. The hand under Yellow's chin shifted to cup her cheek, her thumb brushing away a few more tears. "Usually I'm the one to start crying... what's wrong?"

"I..." Yellow stammered. Could she even say the truth? She swallowed. "It's strange, to think that we can finally ask Rose Quartz herself what happened to-"

"Don't lie to me," Blue interrupted.

Well. There was no way around it now. Yellow averted her gaze, hands fidgeting at her waist with more anxiety than she'd ever felt before. "You hurt me," she found herself saying - well, more like whimpering in a truly pathetic manner unbecoming of a Diamond like her.

"When I told you I hate you?" Blue said, nodding in understanding. "You know I... I really didn't mean that. I was just angry with you."

"But it still made me feel _terrible_ ," Yellow snarled, yanking herself away. She frantically wiped away as many tears as she could but more came to reduce her hard work to nothing. "And it hurt, to be away from you for so long, and to _think_ that you hated me, and to know I couldn't talk to you or come see you. Why say it if you didn't mean it?"

"Maybe I wanted you to hurt," Blue murmured.

Yellow flinched. She supposed she actually deserved it, to hurt, but that didn't make it any easier. "Well, you succeeded. And I can't really blame you for wanting such a thing."

"If only you could always be this honest with me."

Sighing, Yellow returned her gaze to the floor, unable to look in Blue's general direction as she felt as if she had utterly failed. It was over, she was sure. "Shall I escort myself out?" she whispered, once again moving her hands behind her back.

"Honestly, Yellow. What's going through that thick head of yours?"

"Thick?" Yellow repeated in a vague snarl, looking up.

Blue was smiling at her coyly, an odd expression considering the most recent events, starting with their trips to the zoo. It caught Yellow off guard and rendered her immobile as Blue glided forward. She tapped a finger at the golden-skinned gem's temple. "Yes, thick. Don't you agree? Otherwise I can't help but assume you would have gotten over this adorable shyness ages ago, and I wouldn't have felt the need to hurt you." Her expression turned a bit grim, and the hand she still had raised fell back down to Yellow's shoulder. "I didn't do that just because of how you've been acting. I did it because I really am angry with you."

"But why?" Yellow practically cried before she could catch herself. She tightened her jaw and scolded her ineptitude.

"As much as I want to know just what happened to Pink, I don't agree with how you're going about this. What do we really need any humans for? To use them against Rose Quartz?" Blue shook her head, and to Yellow's surprise, leaned forward to rest her head on her chest. She stiffened on autopilot before rather awkwardly raising her arms to hold the blue-skinned gem to her. "Now that Rose Quartz herself is coming here, can't we just... talk to her?"

"I thought a trial would be in order," Yellow said softly. The last thing she wanted to do was give Blue any reason to step out of her arms. This was what she missed, this closeness. Even being in the same room as her fellow Diamond made her feel a bit better.

Blue didn't respond right away. They stayed standing there for awhile before she sighed and said, "I just want you to really _listen_ to what she has to say. I want to _know_ what happened, because... because none of it makes _sense_! Please, Yellow, promise me you will listen. Don't just try to shatter her the second you lay eyes on her."

"I promise," Yellow said, although she wasn't entirely sure how well she would be able to _keep_ such a promise. But she intended on _trying_.

"Now..." Blue sighed and didn't finish whatever it was she was going to say - Yellow assumed she was deciding between whether or not to let her stay longer. She waited patiently, for once, still not daring to move or breathe much lest she stir Blue away from her resting place against her chest. Blue repeated her sigh and tapped a finger on Yellow's chest. "Maybe you should stay awhile longer," she whispered.

A huge wave of relief flooded through Yellow, loosening up the tight feeling and making her feel instead like she could really breathe again. She felt her body go a little limp and her knees trembled, threatening to give out from under her. But that would just be embarrassing. Although perhaps Blue sensed it, because she pushed her back gently onto one of the couches, sitting beside her with most of her body angled towards her. She was very... touchy. Yellow already knew that, but being more on the receiving end of it than she ever had - Blue _had_ been closest to Pink - was new and different. It made her anxious and tense, and this time Blue _definitely_ noticed. She let out a radiant, mellow sounding chuckle, her lips curling up into a fond smile that Yellow returned a bit awkwardly.

"It's nice to hear your laugh," she said softly. Her hands fiddled in her lap and she averted her eyes to them, her face heating up. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"I've been grieving."

"For thousands of years."

"And you haven't," Blue said, and it didn't sound like a question; Yellow looked up. "Why is that? Do you not miss her as I do?"

Yellow scowled. "Of course I miss her. I just don't see the point in crying. I'd much rather _do_ something about it, and now that we have Rose Quartz, that can finally happen. You no longer have to grieve and we can finally figure out what to do with that planet."

"What about your Cluster?" Blue sighed in slight irritation.

"As far as I'm concerned, it has not yet emerged. How else would Rose Quartz still be thriving there, with all her _organics_?"

Blue quirked an eyebrow, the rest of her expression more or less blank. "And when it _does_ emerge? It will break the planet apart. Would you rather keep her here until that happens, so she has nowhere to attempt to escape to? Or..." She shook her head and glanced away. Her gaze pinned on the curtains as intently as if they were open. "Never mind."

"No, tell me," Yellow huffed.

"Or we could go to Earth and take a look around," Blue said, so quietly Yellow had to lean closer to hear her, and her surprise made it hard to respond. The blue-skinned gem glanced to her. A few tears lined her eyes. "I'm trying to understand why Pink liked it as much as she did. Why Rose Quartz would forsake her Diamond and the rest of her kind for the planet and its organic life. I've been there two or three times and I still don't understand, but I'd like to. I want to. Please, Yellow, would you go there with me?"

Opening and closing her mouth, Yellow struggled to form _any_ of the words bouncing around on her tongue. "But it's - I don't - we couldn't-" she stammered.

"After we hear her speak," Blue interjected gently, reaching forward to rest her hand over both of Yellow's in her lap; she immediately looked down, blushing even past the surrounding circumstances. "We'll have her explain herself first."

Yellow heaved a sigh. All these emotions coursing through her, one after the other so quick in succession, were leaving her a bit tired. Exhausted, even, and soon Aquamarine and Topaz would be returning with the human and Rose Quartz, and she'd have _that_ to deal with. She didn't need a Sapphire to tell her there was very little sleep in her future. "What do you think she's going to say?" she asked Blue, frowning in vague bemusement. "Do you really expect her to answer all your questions?"

"I have no idea," Blue half-laughed. She sounded tired, too. "I've decided I'll be going into this with very few expectations. Maybe then I won't be disappointed." Leaning forward, she traced the finger of her free hand along the ridges and lines of Yellow's armor, dancing near her gem but not quite touching it. "What do _you_ think she'll say?"

Clearing her throat, Yellow attempted to stop the twitching of her chest, her breaths becoming a bit spasmodic. "You, ah - _ahem_ \- I do not... I have little expectations as, as well-" Blue giggled and she flushed "-but I assume she will defend herself and claim to have had nothing to do with it. If she would rather not be shattered or placed in a bubble, anyway."

"No shattering," Blue said, snapping out of her mischief to briefly glare in seriousness.

Yellow shook her head. "No shattering," she agreed. "Unless we _both_ decide she's guilty? It will be a trial, after all, and we will have to come to a verdict, be it guilty or innocent. There has to be _some_ explanation, even if she doesn't give us one."

Blue was silent for a good while. Perhaps this was territory she didn't enjoying delving into; she was a bit touchy on the subject of shattering, and it always depended on the context for her to come to a decision. She worked a bit better than Yellow did, then, using a little more logic even in the face of overwhelming emotions while sometimes Yellow merely acted on impulse. But never to _shatter_. That was irreversible. She grimaced slightly at the thought of a lower ranking gem shattering a Diamond. Not only was it the most traitorous action a gem could ever take, but it just didn't make... sense.

"Let's not talk about this any longer," Blue sighed lightly, resuming her tracing of Yellow's armor, sliding down her chest to her stomach. "We'll have to deal with it soon enough. For now, can we just enjoy the quiet?"

Yellow nodded and glanced around the dark room. "Is this a reflection of your feelings?"

Blue chuckled. "Sometimes it's just soothing. You know, there are a few things humans do that are rather quaint. They sleep at night when they're tired. They leave lights off during the day for the preference of opening curtains and letting sunlight through. They're so... strange, but... fascinating at the same time. Don't you think?"

"Not... really," Yellow murmured. "I never understood Pink's adoration of them, nor your curiosity with the planet."

"Then perhaps Rose Quartz can explain it to you."

Laughing slightly, Yellow forced her body to relax a little, since Blue seemed well bent on tracing just about every line of her armor and it was making her incredibly nervous. What exactly was she trying to do? They lapsed into quiet and she tried some more to let herself rest into the couch and Blue's touch.

Blue brought her finger back up to her chest, running it along the outline of Yellow's gem, which showed through her armor. Yellow felt her breath hitch and then stop altogether; Blue skimmed her finger across her gem, then shifted to lean closer. Her lips brushed against Yellow's gem so softly and so _barely_ \- Yellow nearly leapt to her feet in a mixture of surprise and uncertainty, but she stayed completely still. Not breathing. Not moving. Blue snuggled her face into the crook of her neck, that hand splayed over her chest near her collarbones. She brought her legs up to drape them over Yellow's lap, forcing the golden-skinned gem to rest her own hands atop them. The room felt much warmer to her, though it was awfully cool in reality.

"Are you still angry with me?" she asked quietly, voice wavering.

Blue huffed out a laugh. "No... but that doesn't mean there's no potential for your actions during the trial to make me upset. I do hope you remain mature. I know we _both_ want to know what happened, but I will not let you just do whatever you want." Yellow felt lips on the side of her neck, another soft, barely-there kiss that made her shiver. "Don't give me another reason to become angry with you again."

* * *

 _A/N: I changed the rating of this to mature because I think I'm going to have more "adult" themes coming up eventually, and just to be safe I'm not gonna wait to update the rating for when they come up. I'm not sure what that will BE yet, though, so perhaps the rating will go back down to T if things don't actually go that way._

 _Also! There's this awesome fanart of Blue D and Yellow D on deviantart by LessaNamidairo titled Majestic Diamonds, and I highly recommend y'all go check it out! It's wonderfully drawn and also a great rendition of the Diamonds. I drew some inspiration from it~ And idk if the artist will ever read this but thank you for letting me recommend your art! It's very lovely!_

 _I hope y'all are still enjoying this! Please leave reviews, they give me life!_


	6. Part 6

_A/N: So again, disclaimer: I used dialogue from the episode "The Trial" and I sure as heck **DO NOT** own it. I'm thanking the writers of SU for helping me out here lol._

* * *

The trial. It was almost time. Yellow Diamond would finally get to speak to Rose Quartz face to face, to ask her what she thought she was doing about five-thousand years ago. She waited beside Blue Diamond, their Pearls at their feet, for the trial to start. And, not for the first time in a matter of minutes, she looked concernedly to her fellow Diamond.

While they had actually achieved relaxation earlier in Blue's chamber - Yellow very nearly flushed at the memory of essentially cuddling on the couch - the second their Pearls informed them that Aquamarine and Topaz had arrived back on Homeworld, Blue had quickly gone through about a dozen emotions in a short span of time. At this point Yellow was hardly sure how she _actually_ felt; of course she looked a bit sad, probably reliving long-ago memories of Pink Diamond, but there was something to her eyes that Yellow couldn't place for the life of her. It was something she wasn't sure she'd ever seen in her fellow Diamond, and it didn't quite suit her, either. Currently she had shifted to lean in close to the golden-skinned gem; Yellow took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting for their summoning.

And then she heard it, the soft exchange of words between their Pearls, and figured it was time. The two Pearls left before them to introduce their arrivals, and Yellow transported the both of them into the courtroom. She opened her eyes and gazed down upon Rose Quartz.

Except... it wasn't Rose Quartz.

She felt a brief surge of anger, that Aquamarine and Topaz thought she and Blue could be so easily fooled, but she forced herself to take a quiet breath and really _look_. The Blue Zircon assigned to the defense stood hunched and nervous beside the tiny, rather... _human-like_ form Rose Quartz appeared to have taken, sitting on the floor with her knees drawn to her chest. She stared wide-eyed up at the two Diamonds; Blue Zircon quickly mirrored the salute Yellow Zircon - one of the rather smug gems of her court, Yellow recalled - was already in.

Apparently she wasn't the _only_ one confused about this _thing_ they were faced with. Blue straightened from her position leaned so close to Yellow. "Where is... the accused?" she asked quietly, glancing around.

Yellow blinked down at the only other supposed gem in the room. "I do believe... _that_ is Rose Quartz," she said, pointing. "Although I do not understand this hideous form she's taken."

Rose angled herself towards them a bit, knees still drawn up, and Yellow was pretty sure she saw her swallow thickly. Out of the corner of her eye she definitely saw a bit of unexpected anger cross Blue's face, and Yellow could tell just about what she was thinking - she wanted to know what Rose Quartz thought they were going to do with her. For one thing, anyway. But Blue kept her fierce, yet still patient expression and turned her eyes on Yellow as if pleading that they start. Yellow forced down a sigh and, with a wave of her hand, summoned chairs for the two of them. They sat and she gestured for one of the Zircons to begin while the Pearls took their places to record the events of the trial.

"My Diamond," Yellow Zircon began, "my brilliant, opulent, radiant, glimmering-"

"'My Diamond' will suffice, or we'll never get through this," Yellow interrupted, letting out her sigh after all. What was it, really, with her court and going so overboard like that?

"Of course, my Diamond," Yellow Zircon said with another salute. She took a moment to clear her throat. "Rose Quartz committed an awful, heinous crime, a crime no other gem would ever think to commit - and all for what? What encouraged her to do this? One just can't help but wonder _why_. Exhibit A." She snapped her fingers, transporting a human into the courtroom.

"Lars!" Rose Quartz said.

"Steven!" the human cried back, sounding quite fearful. "What's going on? Where-"

Yellow Zircon bubbled its head with another snap of her fingers, and whatever else it was saying came out too muffled to really be heard. "As you can see, humans are loud, absolutely _hideous_ creatures that serve no purpose whatsoever. What kind of gem would turn on her own kind for such a thing? Well, I'll tell you." She walked around the human and pointed directly at Rose Quartz. "That kind!"

"Just let him go!" Rose pleaded. "He didn't do anything!"

"There it is - the passion, the _fury_ , that caused Rose Quartz to turn on her own kind, to _shatter_ her Diamond," Yellow Zircon went on, tone turning quite dramatic - Yellow couldn't help rolling her eyes slightly, a bit of boredom creeping up on her. This trial just seemed tedious and a waste of their time. Why must they act so formal? Rose had done something irreversible and totally unimaginable, so why were they giving her the courtesy of a trial? Yellow hardly even anticipated a possible future wherein they _didn't_ decide she was guilty, but she supposed she wasn't a Sapphire. It was not her place to contemplate "different outcomes", it was her place to rule and to decide what they do with Rose. A glance at Blue told her that perhaps her fellow Diamond was similarly bored, but it was still mostly hard to tell what she was feeling. She was just frowning down at the accused, and although she looked upset, Yellow could tell it was a contemplative look this time. She was just trying to _understand_.

"But I know what you're thinking," Yellow Zircon said. She again pointed at Rose. "This doesn't look like a _Rose Quartz_ -" she brought up an image from the single screen placed over her left eye "-and for that I would like to call an _eye witness_."

A light shone and from it rose a pedestal with an angry looking little Ruby soldier standing atop it. "Oh, Eyeball!" Rose said from the floor. She sounded relieved.

"Do not call me that, traitor! You - you _war criminal_!" the Ruby shouted back.

Rose lowered her gaze. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Yellow didn't hear much of what the Ruby said then - her thoughts slipped into a black hole of sorts. Rose Quartz was showing this gem who, based on her reports, had done nothing but aggravate her and her Crystal Gem rebels, care and compassion like they were actually close. Like she still wished good fortune and prosperity upon her enemy. Now, Yellow Diamond was a general. She knew how the other side often thought, and she knew in particular that Rose Quartz liked to turn gems over onto her side with the promise of a "freer" existence. But the look on her face and the tone with which she just spoke left Yellow wondering if she even _had_ some sort of ulterior motive here.

Suddenly an awful feeling rose from the bottom of her heels all the way to the top of her head, causing her to nearly shiver. She had been so ready to just sentence Rose Quartz to some sort of punishment and be done with it, but now...

Nothing was as simple as she thought it was.

The thought that, perhaps, she'd been _wrong_ about a whole number of things did little more than anger her, and she wondered if she would be able to keep her emotions in check like Blue wanted her to. She didn't want to think this, that something could be very _off_. She didn't want to have to face Rose Quartz longer than necessary. The feeling in her entire body made her quiver, and she just wanted to make it stop.

"And there you have it," Yellow Zircon was saying as the Ruby's pedestal lowered back down, and Yellow tried not to blink a few times in order to get the fog out of her head. "Rose Quartz did it, and that's Rose Quartz. I rest my case."

"Oh, she's good," Blue Zircon said softly.

Yellow heard a throat clearing, and it took her a moment to realize it was from Blue. She glanced to her left and made eye-contact with her fellow Diamond. There was a silent question in her eyes, an "are you okay" that increased the awful feeling flowing through her body. She momentarily dipped her head and swallowed - with quite a bit of struggle - around a lump in her throat. What, was Blue right? Was there really something about that cursed planet that made _sense_? Because Yellow knew that there _had_ to be something about all of this that she could understand, and if it wasn't Pink's demise, then it had to be... the planet? The life on it? What? She clung to the hope that they would come to understand what happened to Pink, instead; at least then she could have peace of mind and ignore the planet and its life.

"I want to hear what the defense has to say," Blue said, her usually mellow-toned voice carrying quite a bit more in the vast chamber of the courtroom.

Blue Zircon jumped slightly. It was obvious she was perspiring from her nerves. She shuffled through the few projectors she'd already brought up. "Ah, well, before I start my, uh, well-thought, uh, prepared defense, I-"

"I did it," Rose Quartz interrupted, standing.

"Wh-what?! No, stop-!"

"No," Blue said. Her voice was cold. "I want to hear what she has to say."

With a small gesture she brought the pedestal Rose was standing upon higher into the air, even giving her a spotlight. Yellow studied her fellow Diamond briefly and it all clicked; Blue was, for once, feeling something other than grief. She was feeling frustration towards the lack of answers they had for thousands of years. Yellow felt a small flash of pity for Rose Quartz - she hardly knew what she was getting into.

"State your name for the record, please," Yellow Pearl said, a bit obnoxiously.

"I, um... I am Rose Quartz," Rose said. She showed her gem. "And... I'm guilty."

Despite having just heard her say she did it, Yellow still straightened a bit in surprise. Why wasn't she even _attempting_ to defend herself? Out of the corner of her eye she saw Blue frown a bit more, the rest of her expression still stony.

"Everything you guys said I did, I did," Rose went on over the Blue Zircon, who was informing her not to say such a thing as confessing her guilt, which she appeared to be completely ignoring. "And I did it by myself. I'm sorry. I'll accept any punishment you want to give me." She spread her arms out as if she was inviting them to do whatever they wanted - and Yellow very nearly leapt on that. But she remembered her promise to Blue Diamond.

 _No shattering until they heard what she had to say_.

Rose pointed to the human. "Just let him go. And leave the Earth alone!"

Yellow let out a bark of laughter, and in other circumstances she would have blushed at how nervous it sounded. "Well... Blue, there really isn't any other way to interpret that. It sounds like a pretty solid confession to me," she said.

Blue only spared her a quick glance. "How?" she asked, and she leaned in close to Rose. " _How_ did you do it? How did you _shatter_ Pink Diamond?"

"Um..." Rose Quartz mumbled. "Well... I did it on Earth. In front of Pink Diamond's palanquin. I was probably like... stop! And she was all like, nooo, so, we fought... I think... and... she probably did some cool moves, and I probably did too, like some jumps and stuff... and I was most likely feeling very conflicted about deciding to shatter her. Definitely crying. I... probably had to use the Breaking Point to do it."

Blue stiffened, and now true anger entered her gaze. "It was a sword!" she bellowed, covering her hands with her face, and a blue wave of light emerged from her body along with a slight pinging noise. Yellow braced herself for what she knew was coming and managed to stop herself from totally crying as the light and sound passed over her, although she had to scrunch up her face and blink a few times in order to do so, only letting some tears pool in the corners of her eyes. The Pearls and Zircons were similarly affected; of course the Blue Pearl was used to such an outburst from her Diamond as well. Even Rose Quartz cried a little. "You... shattered her... with a sword," Blue continued in such a tone of voice that made Yellow's heart ache. How had she not seen the sheer amount of grief she really felt for their lost Diamond when it was right in front of her face? She didn't want to see the blue-skinned gem like this, and as she started to openly cry, leaning back in her chair, she stood to offer her some comfort.

Resting her hands on Blue's shoulders, she snapped, "That's quite enough testimony from _you_! We shall take a short recess."

* * *

"Yellow, I... I don't know if I can do this."

"What?" Yellow said unhelpfully, turning back to face Blue. She was pacing around the now empty courtroom, hands behind her back and gaze focused on the floor. Blue hadn't moved a single muscle - she hadn't even pulled her hand away from her eyes, even though Yellow was fairly sure she'd stopped crying a little while ago - and she'd spoken very softly. If they weren't already in such an echoing chamber Yellow probably wouldn't have heard her. She approached the blue-skinned gem, crouching in front of her. "Blue, what is it? I've never seen you like this before," Yellow murmured. And it was true. She hadn't. It made her nervous and that _stupid_ feeling all throughout her body wasn't helping. In this short period of time they had before hearing the rest of the defense's testimony she had attempted to work through her thoughts, but they were all too bundled up into a haywire of something she couldn't decipher.

Blue finally moved her hand away and their gazes locked. "Don't you feel it, too? That something isn't quite right?" she whispered.

Yellow chose not to answer.

"I know you do," Blue went on anyway, voice rising in pitch. Her hands clenched into fists atop the armrests on her chair. "I can see it in your eyes. It isn't just that Rose Quartz chose such a... a human-like form to present herself in, but it's that she isn't even _bothering_ to defend herself! And did you hear her? It doesn't even sound like _she_ knows what happened! How could she not say she used a sword to shatter Pink?! None of this makes sense!" Throwing her hands up in the air she suddenly stood, dislodging Yellow from where she crouched in front of her knees. She half-scrambled to her feet. "How can we trust Rose Quartz to actually _know_ anything? How can we really be certain _she_ did it when _she_ doesn't even seem to know what she did or didn't do?!" Blue stomped along the previous line Yellow was pacing in, hands fisted at her sides, and tears of frustration sparking up in her eyes.

"Blue, perhaps now isn't the time-" Yellow began, but she was quickly interrupted.

"No! Don't you try to pretend like you don't feel this! _I know you do_!" Blue repeated, practically screaming it at the top of her lungs.

"Blue, just - just calm down! You're-" Yellow cut herself off with a shout of rage. She leapt in the way of Blue's path and grabbed her forcefully by her shoulders, giving her a slight shake. "Stop _saying_ that! Of course we can take Rose Quartz's confession and punish her accordingly! She _said_ it, and it's all we have right now!"

"But it wouldn't be _right_ ," Blue cried desperately. "Wouldn't you rather find who really did this and punish _them_? Not someone who might be innocent?" She wrenched herself out of Yellow's grip and gave her a shove, an awful reminder of what had happened at the pool. This time it was hard enough to send Yellow crashing to the floor. "You _promised_!" Blue shrieked.

"I didn't say we would shatter her!" Yellow shouted back, but she stayed on the floor, feeling almost too weak to stand for much longer. The face of Blue's frustrations brought to their peak was not something she wanted to feel, not in the form of another shove or anything else. "Punishment does not specifically translate to shattering! If that really isn't what you want then I will honor your wishes and the promise I made to you."

Blue shook her head - her white hair thrashed around her - and let out an anguished noise. The pinging sound that accompanied the wave of emotion surging towards Yellow was undercut by the sound of her pain, and this time Yellow was less prepared. She let out a sob, covering her eyes with her hand as Blue had. "You _promised_ ," Blue reiterated, voice lower. She, too - and unsurprisingly - was crying. "We have to go to the Earth and see what's so special about it. I want _something_ to make sense, Yellow, _please_!"

"I..." Yellow stammered. She wiped tears away and sniffled. "I don't recall promising _that_ , but-" she rushed to amend at the look Blue sent her "-I will promise it now. Yes, Blue, we will go to the Earth and figure this out, but..." She trailed off. Though she wanted to give some sort of excuse, or at least simply just say how _ludicrous_ the idea sounded, she couldn't think of the words to do so, much less get them to form on her tongue. So she simply stared up at Blue as she stood there, chest heaving with panting breaths, and suddenly started to wish they hadn't put all of this in motion. No, that wasn't fair. She wished _she_ hadn't put all this in motion, sending Aquamarine and Topaz to Earth; perhaps she hadn't entertained the thought that their mission would go so well, since every other mission she'd sent to Earth as of late had failed so miserably. And yet they were faced directly with Rose Quartz in trial and-

"Wait," she blurted out, even though Blue was only just staring back at her, lips thinned out in a pale line. "I - we know this doesn't make sense," she went on, standing, "and why is that? We _thought_ the only thing that we could understand had to be what happened to Pink, and yet even Rose Quartz herself doesn't seem to know what happened, despite _being there_. So... what if that is not the real Rose Quartz?"

Blue blinked, scowled, and recoiled slightly with half a head shake. Then she paused. "What do you mean? Surely she's taken on a rather... strange form, but that doesn't explicitly mean it isn't _the_ Rose Quartz in disguise," she said slowly, tactfully.

Yellow sighed. She didn't like this train of thought any better, but it had leapt out of her mouth before she could think more on it herself. "All I'm saying is that it's incredibly _odd_ that she doesn't seem to recall the specifics of what she most likely did, and while that could also certainly mean she just _didn't do it_ , I want to rule out all options." Shaking her head, she asked the same questions she asked herself earlier. " _Something_ about this _has_ to make sense, and if it isn't her, what else could it be? The planet? Its _life_? What?"

For a good while Blue was silent, her gaze drifting to her hands, which were fiddling at her waist and appeared to be trembling. Finally she glanced back up and took in a sharp inhalation of breath. "Let's see what she and her defense came up with," she said quietly.

* * *

Seated again in their thrones, with their Pearls scribing below them, they both patiently waited for the Blue Zircon to really get on with her defense of Rose Quartz. The poor thing still looked incredibly flustered and more or less unprepared for the task, but she had a slightly more determined expression than she had earlier. Rose Quartz herself was standing now, behind the Blue Zircon; occasionally her hand drifted up to her stomach where her gem resided. Blue Diamond glanced in Yellow's direction, surprised to see her fidgeting like she just couldn't get comfortable. Finally she stilled, arms and legs crossed, but there was still a small twitch in her face every now and then. Blue understood - what the golden-skinned gem had been suggesting was insane, even if it made more sense than the rest of this trial had so far, and knowing her, she had to be vastly uncomfortable with the notion. Even more so since she had been the one to come up with it.

Blue Zircon, though sweating again slightly, began while sort of pacing, "Rose Quartz is... flawed, I grant you... A shallow, strate-gem, who turned on her own kind out of a misguided attachment to a planet and creatures like..." She summoned the human, its head still in a bubble; now its muffled attempts at speaking sounded a bit more desperate. "It's indisputable, that as the Diamond overseeing Earth, Pink was Rose Quartz's enemy. Rose had everything to gain by shattering her-" Blue glanced at Rose and noted her solemn expression, to which she felt herself soften just a touch "-but even though she might have _wanted_ to shatter Pink Diamond, _could_ she? Blue Diamond, for the purpose of this argument, may I present your palanquin?" Blue Zircon asked, turning to her Diamond.

"Is this... necessary?" Yellow asked, her voice more high-pitched than usual. She didn't sound as cutting as Blue would otherwise expect her to be in any other trial; it sounded more like she was asking out of some sort of anxiety.

"Isn't it?" Blue countered. Yellow made a slightly twisted face of confusion, among other things, and Blue raised a hand to summon her palanquin into the room. "Please, proceed."

"Now, as the records show, Pink Diamond was shattered just outside a palanquin much like this," Blue Zircon went on, approaching the palanquin to briefly go up and down the steps as she spoke. "Witnesses said, Pink had stepped out and had only taken a few steps forward when Rose attacked her from the front!" Blue couldn't help it; she let out a soft, pained gasp at the thought, her grief returning for a quick moment wherein she felt Yellow's gaze on her. She regained her composure as best she could as Blue Zircon continued. "The question no one seems to be asking is, _how_?"

Blue frowned down at her in slight annoyance. " _I've_ been asking that question," she half-snapped, though it came out a touch lackluster.

Her Zircon rushed to correct herself. "A-a-and right you are to ask, my Diamond," she stammered, "because, at the time that Pink was shattered, Rose Quartz had been a recognized threat for several hundred years. There were _no_ Rose Quartz soldiers in her entourage - and none in her guard!" Here, Blue noticed that the Rose Quartz in question was looking deeply confused, and perhaps slightly hurt, like her whole world had just been thrown upside-down. Blue had to admit, she felt a bit similarly - a quick glance at a once more fidgeting Yellow Diamond told her the golden-skinned gem felt the same. "So _how_ did a Rose Quartz, with no business being anywhere _near_ Pink Diamond, get so close in the first place?" Blue Zircon asked. Certainly, she'd come into her stride, although Blue wasn't sure she liked where this was going much more than she assumed Yellow didn't. "Where were Pink Diamond's attendants? Her Agates? Her Sapphires? And where was her Pearl?"

"They were with her, of course! They saw the whole thing!" Yellow shouted, banging her fists on the arm rests of her chair, a temper she didn't always show in public - at least, definitely not when Blue was around - surfacing in a quick, hot flash.

"But none of them saw Rose Quartz approach?" Blue Zircon immediately countered, quite bravely, in Blue's opinion. "Wouldn't her Sapphires have seen Rose Quartz _coming_? Wouldn't her Agates have tried to fight her off?"

"That _is_ strange," Rose Quartz piped up from behind her.

"She... she must have slipped past them," Yellow shouted, though she did not sound convinced herself, and her shoulders were indeed quaking with repressed trembling. Blue, however, wasn't sure how she was meant to help her fellow Diamond. She was shocked by the lengths her Zircon was going to, to give Rose Quartz a truly fair attempt at a trial as she could despite her being a war criminal and traitor to her kind. And it seemed, judging on the bad feeling Blue was _really_ starting to get, maybe she'd figured something out neither her nor Yellow had previously considered.

"Even if she _did_ , wouldn't her Pearl have cried out in alarm - ' _watch out my Diamond_!'" Blue Zircon said, doing a potentially insulting impression of a Pearl as she circled back around to stand closer to Rose Quartz. "No. Whoever did this was already close to Pink Diamond. Someone her guards would allow to get near her... Someone she would listen to when asked to stop her palanquin and step outside, and someone with the authority to cover it up afterwards! Someone with _supreme_ authority, someone..." she abruptly stood up straight, eyes a bit wide, and she spun towards the two Diamonds, fingers pointed at each of them, "like one of _you_!"

Blue gasped in shock - out of all the ways that little monologue could have ended, this was the last thing she would have ever expected. She was stirred slightly from her shock by the sound of Yellow's other foot landing on the floor as she stood, a grim expression on her face.

"Ah, disregard that last statement, I might've gotten carried away!" Blue Zircon rushed to say, backing up a few paces and resuming her hunched, incredibly nervous posture.

Yellow bent down slightly and Blue knew exactly what she was about to do; she leapt to her feet as well and grabbed hold of her upper arm, managing to yank her back and off balance so that the both of them nearly tumbled to the floor. She made a grunting sound of indignation and their eyes met - Blue was startled by the emotion in them, because while she had been anticipating rage and annoyance, instead she was met with something she was familiar with.

The all-consuming grief she'd been feeling since Pink's demise.

Yellow even looked vaguely like she was about to start crying, but she wrenched herself out of Blue's grasp before the blue-skinned gem could get a better look. "Blue! What are you doing?" she snarled. "A gem of _your court_ just implied that _we_ -"

"Yellow, stop it!" Blue interrupted, shouting over Yellow. "What did you mean to _do_? You are overreacting - can't you _restrain yourself_?!"

"But-" Yellow cut herself off with a pained, frustrated shout, her hands snapping up to grip at either side of her head, ruffling her hair ever so slightly out of its prim and pointed nature. Blue felt a surge of sympathy and a bit of heartache; her fellow Diamond had to be feeling things she just wasn't used to when it came to this. The both of them had stuck to emotions they were a bit more familiar with - Blue her sadness and Yellow her temper, at times, although she'd taken to being more emotion _less_ the past couple hundred years. All she was feeling now was probably too much for her to handle at once.

"Hey! W-wait, where are you-?"

Blue turned at the confused shout from her Zircon just in time to see Rose Quartz smack her hand against the activating panel in her palanquin; the thing jerked into life, and it was all she and Yellow could do to watch it stumble back and forth for a moment, then leap all the way up through the roof. It broke through and Blue quickly lost sight of it as it started falling away from the building, most likely to the ground far below.

Yellow moved before her mind could even finish processing what just happened. She leapt to the wall facing the direction the palanquin fell in, swiping her hand in a quick, diamond-shaped gesture to blast out a small portion of it and look through. For a few moments she didn't move. Then she whirled around and stalked back over to Blue and the gems at their feet, both the Zircons looking like they anticipated spontaneous poofing at any second while their Pearls seemed mortified and anxious. Blue attempted to reach out to her fellow Diamond but Yellow lurched out of her way.

"Pearl! Get some gem detectors out looking for Rose Quartz immediately. I want her found and brought back here. Go!" she ordered, and her Pearl saluted and bowed with a rushed "yes, my Diamond" before transporting out of the courtroom. Yellow whirled on the Zircons - they both stiffened, eyes going wide - and pointed an accusing finger at them. "You two! Get out of my sight before I lose my temper. However, I expect to see you both soon, to discuss just what's going to _happen_ to you _next_."

The Yellow Zircon immediately got out of there, in a fashion similar to the Yellow Pearl, but the Blue Zircon stayed. She was shaking badly and only attempted a soft shuffle of one foot to draw herself closer. "I-I didn't mean - I just got a little carried away, ma'am, I meant _no_ disrespect, nor do I even believe what I said-" she stammered, only to be swiftly interrupted.

"Get. Out. Of my. _Sight_ ," Yellow snarled. The Blue Zircon wasted no more time in vanishing, an exponentially grave expression seeping into her terrified features.

"Yellow!" Blue scolded, turning on her in frustration. "What are you-"

"I'm not going to just let her get away before either of us can understand a _thing_ ," she snapped, impatiently flicking her wrist in the direction of the diamond-shaped hole in the wall. "We're getting Rose Quartz back here."

"To what end?!" Blue cried. "Yellow, I need to know what you're thinking."

Yellow's expression soured and she brought a hand up to grip the bridge of her nose, eyes squeezing shut. Her chest was heaving although her breaths were mostly silent. After a few more moments of standing there like that, she dropped her hand and clasped it with the other behind her back, clicking her heels and straightening her posture.

"You'll see."

* * *

 _A/N: Yikes. Honestly though, I love that episode, and also meeting the Off Color Gems. It's just awesome to see Yellow and Blue interacting with each other. I really love them both as characters._

 _Anyway, I am not really of the opinion that Yellow really was the one to shatter Pink, because it was laid on so thick like that I feel like it's a red herring. Of course, I could be wrong. I definitely wouldn't be surprised if she had_ some _sort of involvement in like the cover-up, but I don't think she was the the one to really do it. Tbh my money is kinda on Pearl or even the illusive White Diamond, but I do think Rose was also still involved somehow. Otherwise wouldn't the Gems have told Steven that maybe she didn't actually have anything to do with it, so as to not like freak him the hell out and make him question every part of his existence? Unless none of them knew? Goodness idk. I just want it to no longer be on hiatus._

 _Welp, rant over. Till next time y'all! From here on out I will be diverging from what's canon except for Lars frickin' DYING and he and Steven meeting the Off Colors, but I'm not actually writing about that, it's just still a thing that happened.  
_


	7. Part 7

_A/N: Another chapter from Steven's POV._

* * *

"It's so good to be home!" I groaned into my pillow, more thankful than I had ever been before to be back in my house, back in my bed, back with Dad and the Gems and Connie. After everything that just happened... My head was still spinning. It was almost giving me a headache, so I reached for the glass of water I had next to my alarm clock.

Connie, sitting on the other end of the bed, giggled. "It's really good to have you back, Steven," she said softly. She glanced away when I turned to her, sitting up, a sad expression crossing her face. "I don't mean to make you feel bad, because you must just be _so_ exhausted, but... it was kind of awful to see how your dad reacted when the Gems told him you'd sacrificed yourself to Homeworld gems and they had taken you off-planet." She looked up, her tired eyes a bit misted over with tears. "But you're home, and you're okay."

I sighed, frowning down at the blanket on my bed. Despite feeling so good to be home I also felt incredibly guilty for just leaving Lars on Homeworld - even if he was with the Off Color Gems, and they were all super nice and had promised to look after Lars because I'd secretly pulled Fluorite off to the side to quickly ask her if they would, he was still on a completely new planet that he didn't know at all. Who knew what any other gem would do to him if he happened across their path, and what if something happened to him or any of the Off Colors? I wasn't there to heal them if their gems got cracked, or if something horrible happened to Lars again... I sighed a second time, my heart feeling heavy. I'd only gotten home a couple hours ago and was really just now settling back in, so I hadn't quite yet told Connie, Dad and the Gems what all happened. I could tell the Gems were a bit impatient to hear it, since all I'd said in ways of explanation was that I would explain later. And now it was later.

"Come on," I said to Connie. "It's time I tell you guys what happened on Homeworld."

She nodded, seemingly a bit concerned, and followed me down the stairs to where dad and the Gems were hanging out. Lion was still lying in the middle of the room, sleeping now. I stood on the other side of the coffee table and looked at everyone else on the couch. Dad was smiling at me softly, some tears of his own still in his eyes as well. Pearl had a similar look to her, Amethyst was pretending to be cool about it, and I couldn't tell what Garnet was feeling.

I took a deep breath. "I'll start with the ship."

And I gave them a run-down of what happened, how Lars and I got _so close_ to convincing Topaz to help us, but Aquamarine caught us too soon and Topaz just couldn't betray her. Then talking to Zircon about my defense, seeing both of the Diamonds in one room and listening to the other Zircon try to convince them I was guilty - which wasn't too hard. I even told them I _admitted_ to being guilty, to which Pearl held a hand up over her mouth and made a soft, sad noise. But nobody interrupted me and I described how the trial had ended and how Lars and I got rescued by the Rutile twins. They all looked shocked when I got to Lars' literal death, and even more so when I said I brought him back to life and he turned pink; the Gems glanced in Lion's direction when I said Lars seemed to now have some of Lion's powers, or at least the whole other realm in his hair that allowed me to travel all the way back to Earth and would also allow me to go back to Lars and the Off Colors to make sure they're all doing okay.

Once I was done nobody said anything for a good while. Dad rubbed the back of his head and stared hard at the floor. "Geez," he said. "That's... that's a lot, kiddo."

"Do you think they'll come after you?" Connie blurted, looking mortified that she asked and flicking her gaze towards the stoic Gems - although Amethyst seemed just as confused as her and Dad and was leaning to Garnet and Pearl for explanation.

"I... don't know," I sighed. "They shouldn't know I'm not on Homeworld anymore, unless they catch any of the Off Color Gems or Lars..."

Just about all of us looked to Garnet. She leaned forward, chin resting on her laced hands, her elbows on her knees. "We need to be prepared," she said once the silence seemed to have enveloped every square inch of the house. "If more Homeworld gems are sent here, all of us will have to get together to fight them off. We can't have a repeat of Aquamarine and Topaz... it's clear now that just the four of us can't quite defeat _every_ gem sent our way. We'll need to be on our guard - but first, Steven needs to get some sleep."

I nodded sadly, turning to Connie. "Are you staying the night?" It was sort of a stupid question, since it was already decently late.

Connie nodded. "I, uh, didn't tell my parents you'd been kidnapped, but they actually said I could despite it being so short notice."

"You take the couch, Connie," Dad said. "I've got the van parked outside."

So the Gems went into the Temple, and Dad, Connie and I got ready for bed. I was tired down to the bone but there was really no telling if I would be able to really get to sleep. I stared after Dad as he went down to the beach where his van was parked - of course, _also_ after he nearly crushed me in a tight hug and almost started crying again, which nearly got me crying too. Then, as I walked back up the steps to get in bed, I watched Connie slip under her blanket and settle into the couch. I almost lost everyone I loved in my attempt to right the wrong I assumed my mom had done - but, according to Zircon, Mom might've not even _done it_. There wasn't _really_ any way to tell for sure, it seemed, but I was starting to doubt a lot again.

* * *

"So that's the story," I said, a bit awkwardly, disconcerted by the mixed looks on both Peridot's and Lapis' faces.

"Yup, and Garnet says we _all_ have to be prepared for more Homeworld gems to show up and mess around, and that includes you two," Amethyst tacked on. She had come with me to the barn once Connie went back home; Garnet really did want all of us to be prepared, as if Homeworld gems were literally going to show up at any given second. I didn't think they would, honestly. How could the Diamonds know I was no longer even on their planet?

"Ehhh," Peridot drawled. Her expression kind of reminded me of how she acted after calling Yellow Diamond a clod, the grin at the same time she looked like she was going to explode from panicked terror. "You're... _kidding_... right?" she said.

"What are we going to do if Homeworld gems come?" Lapis asked, frowning. "Do you expect us to _fight_ them? I know we're all friends now, but... are we really Crystal Gems like you guys?" She and Peridot exchanged a meaningful glance. "Neither of us really planned on betraying our own kind like that, even if we would both protect you and Steven if we have to."

Peridot nodded vehemently. "A-and there really are some fascinating things about this planet, and the life _is_ worth protecting just like you guys say, but Steven - this is _Yellow Diamond_ we're talking about! You've officially ticked her off just like I did, and even though those Rubies didn't seem to care about me, there's no telling what she'll want to do to _you_! And what about _Blue_ Diamond?! Lapis, do you think she'd shatter any of us?!"

Lapis scowled down at her. "I was away from her for a really long time - I don't really know what she's like anymore," she said softly.

"She seemed pretty fair to me," I said, frowning a little myself as I recalled how she'd reacted to me saying the Breaking Point was what shattered Pink Diamond. That wave of blue light and the pinging sound that accompanied it... there was something about it that had stuck with me, and not just the fact that it was kind of weird that she could make everyone in the room start to cry a little with her. I glanced around the barn, admiring how Lapis and Peridot had really made it their own space. Pumpkin was resting in a hammock, oblivious to everything happening around it. "But she's also really grieving over Pink Diamond," I added, "so I guess there's no telling what she'll want to do to me, or any of us."

Shuddering, Peridot paced around in a small circle. "We're all going to be _shattered_!" she squeaked. "Calling Yellow Diamond a clod was one thing, but openly fighting against the gems I used to align myself with? Oh, Steven, we're all-"

"You don't have to say it again," Amethyst interrupted. She had her arms crossed and looked more worried than I'd ever seen her, which was really saying something. Sure, she could maintain her aloof, cool image through most things, but with the happenings as of late I think she and I have both matured and are taking things _much_ more seriously. This was no longer an "if" kind of situation. Homeworld was _definitely_ coming back to Earth eventually.

"Sorry," Peridot mumbled, grimacing.

"Peridot is right," Lapis said with an eerie tone. "If we're not careful, this could mean the end of us. Didn't you two make it so the thing inside the Earth is no longer going to come out? Even if they don't convict you of your mother's crimes, Steven, they might still be upset about that. If we don't fight for ourselves and this planet then we're all going to end up shattered and the Earth will be destroyed. Can we really let that happen?" She shrugged and glanced around the barn. "I've really grown accustomed to this place..."

"This is why we're warning you dudes!" Amethyst scoffed, throwing her hands out. "I think Pearl even wants you guys to come live at the Temple with us for the time being so we're all in one place when everything goes _kaboom_."

"That wouldn't really be an advantage, though," Peridot said, a bit dully. "Wouldn't it be better if Lapis and I stayed out in the country to watch for signs of any danger? If we're fanned out we might be able to see them coming in from a different direction. While total _war_ might not be the first thing on their minds, they're gonna want to kidnap Steven again, and that will require surprise. They won't just _show up_ right in front of your base like we did, and they might not even sneak around your town like you said those other two gems did." Her face scrunched up with a bit of displeasure and she looked to me. "Who did you say they were, again?"

"Topaz and Aquamarine," I said.

Lapis' eyes narrowed and Peridot brought a hand up to her chin, humming. "Those are some pretty high-ranking gems..." she muttered. "I'm not surprised Blue and Yellow Diamond sent them, out of all the gems in their combined courts." She suddenly developed a sheepish expression and sort of winced. "And, ah, I'm sorry about all that. It was _my_ report."

I shook my head. "But it was _me_ who told you. Please don't blame yourself, Peridot."

She hardly seemed convinced, but nevertheless didn't say anything else on the subject. Instead she turned to face the inside of the barn, since we were talking right inside the doors. "I bet we could really turn this place into a much more decent base," she chirped.

"No, wait, I don't want you guys to totally overhaul your home just to be ready for battle," I interjected. "It's not like I'll be changing my house like that. It's fine the way it is."

"Plus, we've got your drones," Lapis said, brushing her hand over Peridot's shoulder.

"That's true, but this is no small matter. Amethyst, you should go back and tell Pearl that Lapis and I will be staying at the barn."

Amethyst shrugged. "Hey, I don't make the rules, P-Dot. Besides, Pearl will probably agree with everything you're saying. These Homeworld gems are bound to sprout up outta nowhere, those... those punks!"

I held my hands up, a rush of desperation coursing through me. "Do we even _know_ if they're gonna come to Earth?" I said.

"Garnet seems really worried, dude," Amethyst sighed, frowning at me.

"Yeah, but there's no way they already know I'm not there!"

"But they're going to find out eventually," Peridot said grimly. "Sooner or later those gem detection bots will find your new friends, and I have reason to doubt any of them will sacrifice their gems to keep the Diamonds from knowing you're back on Earth. They're definitely going to use your human friend as leverage, if they can."

I glanced down at my feet. Everything was just getting so... serious, for lack of a better word. Intense, maybe? I knew the Diamonds were pretty bad news, and based on what I've heard, they're not the most merciful when it comes down to it. But I didn't want it to go _this_ far. It wasn't just me or the Gems in danger anymore. Dad, Connie, Lapis and Peridot, my friends in Beach City - and speaking of, I still needed to check on all of them. Connie had mentioned that everyone had gone home pretty shaken up, and most of all I wanted to see Sadie and tell her Lars was okay. Maybe I would skip over the dying part for now.

"You okay, Ste-man?" Amethyst said, tearing me from my steadily darkening thoughts. I picked my gaze up from my feet to see she, Lapis and Peridot were all staring at me.

I sighed. "I'm okay," I said. "It's just hard to think that this is our reality now."

"Well... maybe they _won't_ totally decimate us?" Peridot said meekly, shoulders jerking up in the first half of a shrug she didn't complete.

* * *

Turned out Onion was doing perfectly fine - Sour Cream and Vidalia were so happy he was home - and Jamie was also doing alright, though he was a bit weary still and had taken the week off from delivering mail. I wasn't sure if I should visit Lars' parents and tell them he was okay, because then I would also have to tell them he was on a completely different planet. As selfish as it was I kind of hoped Sadie would do it for me when I went to visit her.

Barb opened the door when I knocked, and after she thanked me for helping to find her daughter and offered me something she'd found in the lost mail pile, I went downstairs to Sadie's room in the basement. "Sadie?" I called out on my way down the stairs.

"Steven!" I heard her voice cry out from below, and she appeared at the bottom. "Oh my gosh, you're back?! Is Lars with you!?"

I tried to keep _some_ of the guilt I felt out of my expression, but Sadie still caught on to my less than good mood; she gestured towards her bed and we sat together. I gave her the really quick version of what had happened, skipped over the Lars _dying_ part, and ended my third retelling of the story with a hopeful smile. "Lars was really awesome. He protected all those other gems we met at the risk of himself. And he's going to be okay - first chance I get, I'm getting him back home." I didn't say that he would probably be coming back home in the clutches of the Diamonds so he could be used as a bartering tool, not really wanting Sadie to know just how bad things really were.

She averted her gaze momentarily and sighed. "That's... wow. I'm not sure I believe it, but I know you'd never lie, Steven. It's just weird to hear he protected virtual strangers when he didn't even help me when we were on that ship..."

"I told him it's okay to be afraid, and I think he really took it to heart," I said, offering another smile that she actually returned, albeit sadly.

"Thanks for coming by and telling me, Steven," she said.

"Of course. How are you doing?"

She laughed. "How am _I_ doing? Steven, you were just kidnapped and taken across _space_ to be put on trial! I'm fine - you must be so exhausted, not to mention freaked out!"

"Oh - yeah, I guess I am," I said shakily, and we both laughed a bit more, until I knew that I should probably stop or else I was going to start sobbing instead. I cleared my throat and hopped off the bed. "I've got to get back home. My dad's probably going to feel weird about me being away for too long, now that all this... and I should be with the Gems. We've got a lot of stuff to take care of. And don't worry, Sadie, Lars will be home before you know it."

* * *

I swallowed a spoonful of Mac 'N' Cheese, staring out at the ocean from my porch. The sun had set a little while ago but the stars were more than enough to provide some really beautiful lighting, and they twinkled off the water like every inch of it was just a part of the sky. Dad sat across from me, digging into his own dinner.

I thought about what I said to him when we were about to leave Beach City with everyone else. When Peridot was coming in her ship and the Gems were scared and confused about what she was here to do.

" _Maybe, when Peridot gets to Earth, she'll see how nice all the people are, and she won't want to hurt anyone_."

If only it were still that simple. At the time I had never thought it'd really be all that possible to get any gems from Homeworld on our side, mostly just because it hadn't crossed my mind that 1: there were others besides Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, and 2: that I could just become friends with anyone who tried to bring us harm. It'd certainly worked out that way - with the unfortunate exception of Jasper, and I guess Navy as well - but what we were faced with now wasn't something I could fix with friendship.

"Hey, Steven," Dad said softly, and I realized I was sort of crying into my pasta. He leaned over the table to put his hand on my arm. "It's gonna be okay. I know it's scary to think of all those gems coming to Earth, because it probably won't be like last time, what with Peridot and Lapis... But that fight's still quite a ways off. Try to just relax for now."

"How am I supposed to relax, Dad?" I huffed irritably. "The Diamonds aren't going to go easy on me or any of the others, especially now that they probably think Rose Quartz and the Crystal Gems are back to being a menace to Homeworld gems, after they all thought we'd been wiped out by whatever they did to gems still on Earth!" I shuddered at the thought of corrupted gems and what Centipeetle and the others had told me it was like. Damage by the Diamonds. And it was irreversible. What was stopping them from just doing that again when we least expected it? They'd be done with us a lot quicker then.

Dad frowned and smiled at the same time - I could tell he was struggling to keep the mood a bit lighter than I was making it. I felt bad, but... "Whatever happens will happen. We just have to be ready, and I know we'll all be safe with you and the Gems here," he said.

I looked up at the sky again. Things felt hopeless and slightly hopeful at the same time, and it was kind of confusing. I _did_ want to just relax and enjoy being back home, but the threat of the Diamonds and Homeworld was all too real. I didn't want it to come to this. They had even more new technology than they had at the end of the first Gem War, so - no, I had to stop thinking this way. Dad was right. I got up to give him a hug and tried to keep my eyes off the water or the sky. Whatever was going to happen... we'd be ready, and we were going to fight back. There was no way I was going to let anything happen to anyone, no matter what.

* * *

 _A/N: Here we go. Delving into non-canon ;) at least insofar as SU is on hiatus so therefore I have nothing to go off of lol.  
_

 _Hope all you lovely readers are still enjoying this. Please leave reviews - they give me life (and motivation to continue)! Thanks for reading this far~_


	8. Part 8

The stars had always been something to soothe Blue Diamond; the thought of so much they had yet to discover and explore in all the galaxies, but even more than that, the patterns some stars made. Constellations. She supposed that if one were to stare up at the sky and pointedly look for shapes or forms then just about anything could be seen and named, maybe even mapped out. It seemed a bit frivolous. She knew humans liked seeing and pointing out these constellations, but they also had a night sky and a day sky. Homeworld was close to a star much like the sun although there really wasn't much of a thing like "night" and "day". Gems didn't sleep and therefore didn't need a designated time period for it. But Blue rather liked the notion that, at night, she could lie down and stare up at a night sky, looking at constellations.

The stars were doing very little to soothe her haywire nerves, anxiety, and frustrations right now, and the hard, sharp look of Yellow Diamond's off-planet base was not providing a calming environment of any sort. They were close enough to the stars to touch them, in this spire base on a dwarf of a planet relatively close to Homeworld. Yellow had summoned her here for some reason or another and Blue was starting to wish she'd just stayed in her chambers. Half of her didn't want to know what the golden-skinned gem was planning, only wanted to come up with her _own_ plan to find Rose Quartz and get the answers they sought. She did not approve of violence or shattering, and she had a terrible feeling that Yellow was gearing up for all-out war against Rose and her band of rebels on Earth.

The gem detection bots had yet to discover Rose Quartz on just about the whole of Homeworld, and Blue was clueless as to why that might be - she dreaded that it meant she had somehow gotten off the planet entirely. But how? There had been no reports of any Red-Eyes or any other ship being stolen by the traitorous gem, no reports of sighting her at all - not even any news of the human, either. They were apparently just... gone.

Blue turned at the harsh click of Yellow's heels and watched her walk up the stairs to her control panel and chair, her Pearl hastily following her to stand beside the Blue Pearl already off to the wayside of her Diamond. Yellow came to a halt; Blue felt a stab of some sort of regret at the emotionless glint to her eyes. Yes, perhaps all-out war was not too bad of a guess.

"Thank you for meeting me here," Yellow said, sharp and down to business, which only irked Blue even more than it probably would have a couple hundred years ago. Now that they seemed to have broken past the invisible boundary between them and had become more intimate, this display of acting like a general and nothing more than a fellow ruler was increasing Blue's ire. She narrowed her eyes at the golden-skinned gem, but Yellow appeared to simply ignore her and walked up to press a few things at her control panel.

"Yellow," Blue said slowly, and her tone of voice had the intended affect - Yellow paused abruptly and maybe even paled ever so slightly. "What are you doing here?"

Her fellow Diamond looked away from the reports and few photos she'd brought up, brows furrowed and accentuating the return of emotion in her eyes. Blue almost let out a sigh of relief - she didn't want to ruin her imposing image, though, not unless she could go without getting any answers from Yellow. And she could not. Yellow opened and closed her mouth a few times, frown worsening, as she stood up straight. Blue arched an impatient eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Yellow finally said.

Scoffing, Blue rolled her eyes. "You can't possibly - Yellow, I need to know what you're planning. Whatever it is, I won't get angry, but I need to _know_. I'm worried about how far you're taking this situation with Rose Quartz."

Again, Yellow hesitated in her response, although this time it seemed more like what she wanted to say she intended solely for Blue Diamond. So Blue waved away their Pearls and sent them down the stairs to stand closer to the doors - while they would still be quite able to hear, it would give a better illusion of privacy. Yellow watched them depart, prompting Blue to glance in their direction as well, and when she looked back at the golden-skinned gem she was startled to find her standing right in front of her. Practically within breathing space. She felt her cheeks warm on autopilot and for a wonderful second forgot about all the surrounding circumstances as she was transported back to their shared time right before the trial; who would have ever guessed Yellow Diamond actually liked to sit and cuddle. Blue rather liked running her hand along the smooth, cold metal of her armor, teasing around her gem with feather-light touches, and being able to nuzzle into her slender neck. It was really the only part of her that wasn't completely covered, other than her face, of course, and usually her hands.

"Will you please lower your hood?" Yellow whispered, expression now vaguely pleading.

Blue could only blink in response; she'd pretty much forgotten where she was for that brief second, and breaking out of that fantasy of a moment was a bit jarring. She rubbed the fabric of her cloak's hood between her fingers. "Why?" she asked.

"Because I want to really look at you."

"What?"

Yellow huffed out a short sigh, reaching up herself to gently remove the hood from Blue's head. Her hands stayed where they were for a moment, clutching the hood, then slid forward over Blue's shoulders and past her hair. "I just need you to trust me," she whispered.

"Trust you?" Blue echoed. Apparently, despite the severity of having a war criminal loose around Homeworld, and her annoyance with how Yellow had been acting since the trial, a single touch from the golden-skinned gem was enough to melt her mind and leave her just wanting more. She wanted to be anywhere else, a nicer place to look at the stars and simply _be_ with her fellow Diamond. Not on this base with the threat of going to war hanging over her head. Not with the thought that someone as dangerous as Rose Quartz was loose on Homeworld and no one knew what she was planning on doing.

"Yes," Yellow breathed, and she inched even closer. "I will not break the promises I made to you. Please believe me when I say that." She averted her eyes, her touch gliding down Blue's arms to take her hands in her own. "I care about you deeply. I hope you know that."

Blue nearly grimaced, but she didn't yank her hands away. "You sure have a funny way of showing it," she half-snarled weakly.

Yellow picked her eyes back up in minute surprise; they quickly hardened and Blue wished she hadn't said that. "Alright," Yellow huffed. "Well, I was going to ask you if you would accompany me elsewhere. It's a risky idea, but I think I have a good chance at being right."

"Right about what?" Blue asked slowly.

"Rose Quartz is clearly no longer on Homeworld," Yellow said, stepping away from Blue and flicking her wrist in flippant dismissal. "Otherwise I daresay we would have found her, or at least the human, well before now."

"You don't think it's possible they're just avoiding us rather well?"

Shaking her head, Yellow went back to studying the projections she'd brought up. "No. _Someone_ would have seen _something_ , even if they were running or destroying our detection bots. Our best bet is to assume she somehow made it off the planet and got back to Earth. Where else would she go? Her base, after all, is there, along with what's left of her army - this is all in the reports of a few of the gems we've sent there most recently. I've pulled up everything from the Peridot who betrayed my orders, as well as the Aquamarine and two Topaz we just sent, and the platoon of Rubies I sent looking for the Jasper escort that went missing. They say pretty much the same things; a band of three unauthorized gems are still on the planet Earth along with what appeared to be a human, although it was later discovered the human seems to be the form Rose Quartz has taken. Through simple logic we can deduce that-"

"Yellow, please stop," Blue interrupted gently, stepping up close to grip her arm with both hands and try to wedge herself between the other Diamond and the panel. "You can't be suggesting what I think you're suggesting."

Yellow did pause for about half a second. "I'm suggesting we go to Earth," she said.

"And?" Blue asked, dreading the answer.

"And talk to Rose Quartz and her army."

Blue blinked. She leaned away, letting her hands fall back down to her sides. "Talk...?" she echoed pitifully. Where was the militaristic response she was expecting?

Yellow nodded vehemently, though she looked a little bemused. "We want answers, and it became clear during the trial that Rose Quartz does not _have_ those answers, at least not in my opinion. Therefore, they must be somewhere else. I made the educated guess that we might as well attempt to talk to the remnants of her rebellion, and perhaps even take a look around the planet for ourselves." She suddenly developed a slightly embarrassed expression as she brought a hand up to brush invisible dirt off her shoulder and chest plate. Her cheeks tinted in a blush that Blue would have found much cuter if the circumstances were just a _touch_ different. "With that being said," Yellow murmured, although she took a second to somewhat awkwardly clear her throat, "you do not have to come with me if you do not wish to."

"Who else will keep you in line?" Blue sighed. "Your Pearl? Of course I will accompany you. I'm the only one besides Pink who's even stepped foot on that planet before, anyway. I just hope that, for your sake, you're not lying to me."

"What?" Yellow scoffed, her eyebrows scrunching forward in offense. "What do you think I'm lying to you about? Did you not just hear what I said?"

"I don't want to go with you to Earth just so you can shatter Rose Quartz," Blue said sternly. She glanced upwards to stare at the stars for a quick moment, to see if they would soothe her like they used to. The calm that reached her was very slight. "And what you just _said_ is surprisingly uncharacteristic of you," she went on, biting back another sigh and meeting Yellow's gaze. "Forgive me for being caught off guard when you say you want to _talk_ to Rose Quartz and her army as opposed to simply wiping them out and being done with them."

"I meant what I said about - about you," Yellow half-stammered. Leaning forward, she became within breathing distance again, and Blue felt her whole being soften. "I wouldn't lie to you. I'm done being an idiot," the golden-skinned gem whispered.

Blue smirked and reached up to cup her cheek. "I hope you're right," she chuckled.

Yellow practically pouted, prompting a slightly heartier laugh from Blue; she shuffled forward and leaned into her, pressing her cheek against cool armor. She let out a sigh and her mind wandered. Would this be dangerous? They weren't entirely sure what Rose and her rebels were capable of, even if their Aquamarine and Topaz hadn't seemed to have _too_ much trouble dealing with them. But that Jasper who went missing... Blue knew which Jasper in particular it had been - one of Pink's certainly, but the most formidable of her cut. And that was really saying something considering the Kindergarten she'd been in; most gems that came out of there were not made of the best resources they did manage to get from Earth, due to the environment of the Kindergarten as well as the rush with which those gems were made. If Rose and her gems hadn't had a hard time with a Quartz like that Jasper, then Blue would admit she was impressed. While none of them would be able to put a mere scratch on a Diamond like herself - except, perhaps, Rose... - Blue felt weary for their safety. They wouldn't just welcome herself and Yellow with open arms. There was any number of ways this could go, and Blue expected, woefully, that it would start with a scuffle.

"When would you like to leave?" Yellow asked, her voice impossibly soft, and Blue realized that at some point when she'd been lost in her thoughts the golden-skinned gem had wrapped her arms around her waist.

She leaned back to meet Yellow's gaze, frowning at the odd duality between scattered emotions and that frightening emptiness in her eyes. They glowed, harsh-set. "I would like you to come with me, first," she said quietly, unable to muster up any more volume in the face of those eyes, both alluring and somewhat terrifying at the same time.

Yellow quirked an eyebrow, but she answered simply with a single nod and dutifully followed her fellow Diamond down the steps to the door. They were joined by their Pearls on the way out of the base and back to Homeworld via the warp pad that took them to Blue's section of the buildings of the Diamonds. Their property was divided into four diamond-shaped areas, the offices and chambers of the gems of their courts in the front, their own offices in the middle, and in the very back were their more private rooms. Blue wasted no time in bringing Yellow all the way back to her most private chambers, shutting the door on their Pearls and guiding her fellow Diamond to the couch. Yellow had an air of nervousness about her now, and out of the base, away from any talk of Rose Quartz or Earth, Blue could more fully recognize how adorable she could be. She laid down on the couch, guiding Yellow to her with a hand on the back of her neck and head. Yellow let out a soft, surprised grunt, her face pressed into Blue's chest and her hair tickling Blue's chin and cheek.

"I'm a bit... confused," she murmured, voice slightly muffled.

Blue could feel the warmth of her blush against her and briefly contemplated getting up again to remove her cloak, but decided not to. She didn't want to rush them. "Just stay here with me for a little while," Blue whispered, gaze fixed on the ceiling. "Let everything slip from your mind - don't think about Rose Quartz or Earth. Be here with me."

She heard Yellow swallow thickly and suddenly had the urge to touch the column of her throat - again, she restrained herself. "There's nowhere else I would rather be," Yellow sighed.

Seconds of silence ticked by.

"Have you ever tried to sleep?" Blue asked softly.

"Sleep? Like what... organic life does?" Yellow muttered.

"Yes."

"No, I have not. Have you?"

"Once or twice. It actually feels pretty nice."

"Would you like to now?"

"Only if you want to."

Yellow shifted, picking herself up onto her elbows. "How do you do it?"

Blue smiled. "Come back here with me," she said, pushing Yellow farther up so they could both stand, and led her down a hall to a set of stairs. Down those they came into another room; it was lit by jagged glowing stone at the bottom of a series of pools, fed into each other by tiny, trickling streams. Flowery moss grew on the smooth rock floor closer to the water, leaving a slender path for the two of them to walk to the far side of the room, where a thick cluster of grass grew to fit the length of Blue's body. She laid down, pulling Yellow down beside her; Yellow laid stiffly on her back, and this time Blue saw more than heard her swallow.

This time she couldn't ignore the urge to touch.

Blue turned onto her side and reached up to trail her fingers across Yellow's chest up to her throat, marveling at how slender and long it was. She could feel Yellow's eyes on her - and even if she didn't they were glowing well enough in the dim light that she could just _see_ her watching - as she shifted a bit closer to press her lips to the side of her throat. Yellow inhaled slowly, the breath shuddering. Blue slowly progressed farther up, to her sharp jaw line and to the corner of her lips, then her pointed cheek bones and across her nose. She felt Yellow squirm a little below her right before hands slid over her cheeks and tugged her down. Their lips met in a tentative kiss, barely touching at first, but as Blue felt a solitary tear slip out the corner of her closed eye and Yellow moved further into the curves of her body, it deepened; Blue's mind went empty with a semblance of relief, but mostly hope. She hoped she and Yellow would be able to do this, to be together. No matter what else they were faced with - they had each other, and Blue couldn't help but be confident in the power of love.

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter, but things will be getting intenser after this, as two worlds collide and who knows what will happen! Even I don't know._

 _Please keep reviewing, following and favoriting! Till next time._


	9. Part 9

Yellow Diamond checked their course for perhaps the hundredth time, her hands anxiously gripping the arms of her seat.

Despite its size, her ship was currently traveling with only a small number of gems: herself, Blue Diamond, their Pearls, the Aquamarine and Topaz fusion they already sent to Earth, and their Zircons from the trial. Accompanying them were a few Amethysts, a Jasper, and a Carnelian taken from the human zoo, as well as the Holly Blue Agate assigned to them charge.

In the time she and Blue had spent waiting before taking the leap of going to Earth they'd been met with a stroke of luck. A group of Peridots had been checking on the structural integrity of the caverns far into the ground of Homeworld, and they had stumbled into a group of oddly dysfunctional or truly insulting gems that appeared to be living down there. Typically, Yellow wouldn't have cared much to hear about that, but Rose Quartz's human friend had been found with them. The Peridots - along with the few soldier-gems that had gone with them just in case - had actually been able to fight the dysfunctional gems and the human, capturing them and bringing them immediately to Yellow Diamond.

That proved to be a good enough sign that they needed to go to Earth immediately. She had contacted Blue and told her fellow Diamond to meet her on her ship with her Pearl, saying she would form a small band of gems to take with and that Blue needn't worry about any of that. The idea of taking a side trip to the human zoo had been Blue's idea - her insistence, really - and now that they had a few gems more equipped to hold off the Crystal Gems until they had a chance to _talk_ , they were on their way.

To Earth.

To talk to Rose Quartz and her Crystal Gems.

Yellow shuddered a bit at the idea, still wholly unused to it regardless of the fact that it was _her_ idea and she alone was insisting they go. She squirmed unnecessarily and finally stood instead of attempting to sit still awhile longer. Her Pearl was flying the ship with the company and help of the two Topaz. They would be more than capable of getting them to Earth without their Diamond hovering over them, making dents in the armrests of her chair with the harsh force of her anxious grip. She left the bridge and traveled down the halls.

She didn't find Blue where she had left her, in a comfy viewing chamber where she could watch the expanse of space pass them by through a series of windows covering all the walls that could also appear in the floor. The few gems from the human zoo were there with the Holly Blue Agate and the Zircons. All of them glanced very swiftly in Yellow's direction, and other than saluting her none of them offered any other form of greeting. Not even Holly Blue, who had seemed so eager to please when Yellow had met Blue at the zoo.

"Where is Blue Diamond?" she asked them - the Blue Zircon jumped badly.

"Ah, my Diamond," Holly Blue crooned, bowing so deeply her forehead nearly touched the floor. Yellow rolled her eyes. "She went to check on the prisoners, I do believe."

"Thank you." Yellow left and headed for the holding section of the ship. What was Blue doing with them? Certainly, Yellow wasn't at all surprised to discover she'd gone there. That was just how she was, a gentle, thoughtful gem.

They'd decided to hold the dysfunctional gems and the human in the same area, since there wasn't much they could do. Yellow didn't intend on hurting any of them - she wouldn't have cared if they'd just stayed in the caverns once she got the human into custody, but they'd confessed to more or less being in league with Rose Quartz, and therefore she thought it would benefit all if she brought them all to Earth. The group of them consisted of two Rutile gems sharing the same form, their gems interlocked in such a way that reminded Yellow of the experimental fusions of gem shards they had done on Earth; a Padparadscha Sapphire who appeared to be able to only predict events of the very recent past; a fusion of two gems called Rhodonite; and a fusion of _six_ different gems called Fluorite. They, in particular, made Yellow a tad bit uncomfortable, and she assumed they would probably find a good place amidst Rose Quartz's little army, what with her insistence that fusion between different gems wasn't so bad.

Blue sat with her back to an empty cell at the very end of the hall, her Pearl perched atop her foot and Aquamarine standing guard. The captured gems and the human were in the first five cells on either side of her. They were all staring up at Blue and listening to her as she spoke softly to them, varying degrees of anxiety shining on their faces - all except the fusion called Rhodonite, who was cowering in the very back of her cell and whimpering to herself. Yellow frowned in pity at the sight and stood in front of Blue. Her fellow Diamond trailed off in whatever she had been saying and gazed up at her; Yellow was surprised that her hood was off.

"How are... they?" Yellow asked awkwardly, sweeping an arm out to indicate their prisoners and not quite wanting to refer to them as such.

"We're just having a little chat," Blue said.

From one of the cells, the Padparadscha Sapphire suddenly chirped, "Yellow Diamond has joined us in the hallway!"

Yellow glanced down at her with an arched eyebrow and Blue laughed lightly. "They're rather nice to talk to. Oh, but that one in there is incredibly nervous," she said, pointing in the direction of Rhodonite's cell and smiling sadly, "and the human is quite feisty. How much longer till we reach Earth?

"We should be there fairly soon," Yellow said.

"You giant ladies stay away from Steven and the Earth!" the human shouted. "If you go there he and, and all his moms will make you leave!"

"Brave, too," Yellow hummed. She crouched down to get a better look at it. When she'd seen it for the first time after the trial she had been confused to see its skin had turned pink, when she was pretty sure it had been different before. Did humans typically come in different shades of colors? Could they _change_ their color? It took about a half-step back into its cell and she saw it swallow nervously, but the determined expression on its face remained.

"What exactly do you intend on doing with us?" the other fusion, Fluorite, asked. Yellow waited somewhat impatiently for her to get the words out - she spoke _horrendously_ slow.

She shifted closer to her, away from the human. "We would just like you to act as a sort of link between us and Rose Quartz," she explained. "You will go with Aquamarine over there, as well as a Topaz fusion to speak with them, conveying a message from Blue Diamond and I. With any luck that will stop us from having to fight them right off the bat. We only want them to listen to us. Can you all do that?"

"Excuse me, my Diamond," Aquamarine piped up from behind her. She straightened and turned to glance down at the small gem, hovering in the air with the aid of her watery wings. "If I may, I'd like to disagree with your plan here," she said.

"And why is that?" Yellow sighed.

Shrugging, Aquamarine gestured flippantly at the prisoners. "Aren't we going back to Earth to _recapture_ Rose Quartz, and her group of rebels if necessary? She's a traitor - what if she wages another war against Homeworld?"

"It is not your place to decide how we approach Rose Quartz," Blue spoke up softly, and it looked like Aquamarine shrank a little at that. It was a bit easier to defy a Diamond not in charge of her court, but what Blue Diamond said to her was essentially law. Yellow shot the blue-skinned gem a thankful glance - this Aquamarine was particularly abrasive, cocky in nature and seemingly with a superiority complex over other gems. She went silent and Blue looked back up to Yellow. "They've said they don't know much about Rose Quartz at all. I've already asked my Agate to tell me again what they were like when they infiltrated the human zoo, and she said that she is certain there are only three of them besides Rose. Technically four, if you count the fusion as the two gems she consists of. We can assume that the majority of her army was either wiped out in the fighting... or from our final attack on Earth." She glanced away in something Yellow took to be regret, and she grimaced at the sensation of feeling it a bit herself. Shattering a gem was one thing - letting it continue to exist, just without its sanity of self, was another entirely. But it had been necessary... or so she thought at the time.

"And what of the Peridot who went against my orders? Or the informant she took with her and the Jasper escort?" Yellow asked. "Which gem was that...?"

"A Lapis Lazuli," Blue said. "She showed up out of nowhere. Apparently she had been stuck on Earth for five thousand years." She glanced down at the gems in the cells surrounding her, seeming for a moment to debate with herself whether or not she wanted to continue this conversation with them listening. Yellow let her decide. At this point she was far too anxious to just get to Earth to really think about which gems of their courts were listening to their discussions. The Cluster was bound to emerge eventually, probably much, _much_ sooner rather than later, and she wanted to see the planet before it was torn apart. After a few more moments Blue added, "We have an obvious advantage over their remaining forces. At the most we should be able to easily persuade them into speaking with us."

Yellow nodded in agreement. She was starting to feel fidgety again and wanted to go back to the bridge to check their course once more. "Right. Well, I'll leave you to keep our guests company," she said, already turning around to move back down the hall.

"If we're your _guests_ , why are we in cells?!" the human yelled.

She frowned down at it. An odd feeling overcame her; her Zircon had been spot-on saying humans were loud and relatively useless, but she knew this particular human could not go back to Earth with a single scratch on its body, lest they antagonize Rose and her affection for it. She decided to ignore it for now and headed off in the direction of the bridge.

Halfway there she stopped at the sound of rustling fabric, and glanced over her shoulder to watch Blue approach her, hood once again shielding her face. Regardless, she could see her fellow Diamond wore a troubled look. "Yellow..." she murmured, coming to a halt beside the golden-skinned gem. "I hate to ask you this, but... please reassure me that the goal here really is to talk to Rose Quartz. _Not_ to fight, _not_ to shatter her or any of the gems in her rebellion."

"I wouldn't go back on a promise I made to you, Blue," Yellow said quietly.

Blue bowed her head for a moment. "I... know," she whispered. "I'm just worried. We don't know what's going to happen - what if they do not wish to talk? What if _they_ attack first? I do not even want any of them to lose their forms in a skirmish, and the same for our gems."

"We could have brought a Sapphire with us," Yellow half-scoffed. "One that can predict the future, and not just things that have immediately come to pass."

Smirking wryly, Blue rested a hand on her shoulder, gliding it along her chest to rest near her gem. "That Padparadscha Sapphire is actually quite amusing," she chuckled.

Yellow smiled back half-heartedly. She parted her lips to respond, but the confident throat-clearing of her Pearl below her gave her pause, and she glanced down. "My Diamond," Yellow Pearl greeted, "we are just now hovering above Earth's stratosphere."

"What?" Blue gasped. "Already?"

Going over to the wall facing the outside, Yellow pressed a button to reveal the stars - and the planet Earth below them, its moon nearby. She stared intensely at the Earth's green, blue and white surface. She had never stepped foot on its surface before, having been commanding her gems from the moon base or her ship. The Diamonds hadn't traveled lower than its sky much in the wake of Pink's demise, worried about how far Rose Quartz would go. It had been thousands of years since then, and she hadn't seen much of it to begin with.

"I understand how Pink could grow fond of this planet," Blue sighed heavily beside her, shoulders deflating. "It does look beautiful... especially on the ground."

Yellow scowled. Her own anxiety mounted and her desire to actually get _to_ the ground became overwhelming. "Pearl," she said - much quieter than she'd meant to - without looking down, "have we locked onto the coordinates to Rose Quartz's base?"

"Yes, my Diamond. We should be there shortly."

"Wait," Blue said, and out of the corner of her eye Yellow could see she was looking down at the Yellow Pearl. "Would it not be intimidating to land so close to their base? We should take a smaller ship to the surface, perhaps a Roaming Eye."

"We will stay in the air so long as it takes Topaz and Aquamarine to get our guests to the Crystal Gems' base," Yellow said, relieved to hear the commanding edge to her voice. " _They_ can take a Roaming Eye. I also want the Amethysts from the zoo to go with your Agate and patrol around the immediate area, just in case Rose expects an attack and launches one from a base other than her main one."

Blue frowned and narrowed her eyes for a very brief second. She momentarily turned back to the patient Pearl and waved her off. Once they were alone she drifted closer to Yellow; the golden-skinned gem sensed her proximity and finally removed her attention from the view of Earth below them. Blue was staring at her with the hardness she knew from the beginning of the trial; a mixture between that need for answers and a plea that Yellow play nice. Yellow gave a nod to say she understood - then realized how minimal a promise that was. She summoned her nerves to calm and leaned forward, placing a soft, hopefully reassuring kiss on Blue's lips.

The ship started its descent to Earth.

* * *

 _A/N: Again, sorry for the shorter chapter. Next two, which I've already written for the most part, are looking longer._

 _In all honesty I'm not sure how much I'm liking this anymore, at least what I have in the next two chapters, so those might take awhile to be put up. I hope though that y'all enjoy this chapter, and I do REALLY hope you're excited to find out what happens next._

 _Lastly, as a whole, i think this is going to turn out as a shorter fic. Probably not too many chapters left, but that could always change. Please keep reviewing, following and favoriting!_


	10. Part 10

_A/N: Another chapter from Steven's POV._

* * *

"Three donuts, please," I asked, holding up three fingers.

"Sure thing, Steven," Sadie said. She ducked down to get the ones I pointed out and put them in a bag. "No offense, but you're looking a little scuffed up," she added with an amused smile, passing them across the counter and ringing up the total.

I nodded, smiling back. "We're all doing some training today."

"Well, have fun," she said as I passed over the correct amount of bills.

"Uh... how are you doing, Sadie?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It's just kinda empty here without Lars, and I've had to do more work than usual since he's not... here." She sighed, smiling sadly now. The past two months I'd been back from my excursion to Homeworld she was looking more and more tired every day; I felt awful for not being able to bring her much peace of mind. I'd briefly considered taking her through Lion to visit Lars, but eventually decided that would probably be too dangerous. Already when I went to check on him there was no telling where he or the Off Colors were, and I took him by surprise plenty by just popping out of his hair. The last time I'd seen him he'd jokingly commented on how he should probably start growing it out if I was going to keep using it as a cross-dimensional portal after we all got home - personally, I think he'd look good with long hair. Maybe if another week passed by and the Gems and I still couldn't think of a way to rescue him and the Off Colors I would chance it and take Sadie to see him.

I couldn't promise that just yet, though. Who knew what was going to happen in the coming days. "Thanks for the donuts," I said. "Hang in there, Sadie. Lars will be home before you know it, and the two of you can run the Big Donut together again!"

Sadie grinned. "Ha! Thanks, Steven. See you later."

I took my donut out to nibble on as I walked back home. The training the Gems, Connie and I was doing wasn't anything too intense. We were just taking the time Pearl usually reserved for teaching Connie, and sometimes me, and we were using it to train all together. Garnet thought it would be smart if we all got used to fighting as a cohesive team since things hadn't really gone as planned fighting Aquamarine and Topaz. We were even doing more fusion training - Sardonyx and Opal mainly, with very rare and careful visits from Sugilite, but even Amethyst and I got to fuse into Smoky Quartz some more! And of course, Stevonnie made some pretty regular appearances. I was getting a lot better at fusing on the spot and all the training was really making all of us feel a bit more relaxed in terms of Homeworld gems showing up out of nowhere. Peridot and Lapis even joined us sometimes, when they weren't keeping their eyes on the sky - Lapis patrolled around Beach City and the greater surrounding area - or building more defensive weapons, which was Peridot's purview.

I hurried into my house and to the warp pad to get to the old ruins. Connie and Amethyst were taking a break on the stairs; I joined them and offered the bag of donuts. Not the most nutritious snack, but something to get us through. Garnet and Pearl were sparring.

"Dude..." Amethyst said slowly, mouth full of donut, "you know who I've been thinking of a lot recently?"

"No," I said. "Who?"

"Bismuth. I mean, we're gonna need all the help we can get, right? Why don't we let her come out of her bubble in the Temple?"

I frowned sadly. "I... I don't know if we can _trust_ her. She wanted to _shatter_ other gems."

Amethyst sighed tiredly, absentmindedly licking some chocolate frosting off her fingers. On her other side, Connie glanced between the two of us, silently eating her own donut. "I know," Amethyst said. "We don't really want to do that, especially if we want Homeworld to stop messing with us... ending this the way it kinda started won't get us anywhere. But, dude, Garnet has kinda been freaking me out with how worried she is about what's gonna happen. I don't think she can see it very well... you know, with her future vision."

"Do you think _Garnet_ wants to take that route?" I asked, appalled. "Shattering other gems? She knows how wrong that is - when we went to the zoo, Ruby was so upset about how Holly Blue kept talking about Blue Diamond because of what she almost did!"

"I know, man, calm down!" Amethyst hissed. "And keep your voice down. Garnet and Pearl have been through all this fighting stuff, they might jump on the chance to let Bismuth out, and I agree with you! Shattering is not the way to go here." She glanced away, brushing her hair away from her eye, and stared down hard at her feet. I made eye-contact with Connie - she shrugged a bit helplessly. "I'm just wondering if we need more help, is all. Bismuth could make weapons, and I bet she could even help Peridot with all she's doing..."

"Well, it's already been two months and no Homeworld gems have showed up," Connie interjected. "If it goes on much longer like this then maybe it wouldn't hurt to call on Bismuth to be more prepared. She doesn't necessarily have to be a part of the actual _fighting_."

I huffed in slight annoyance. "I don't want there to be _any_ fighting!" I snapped, throwing my hands up. "I understand getting ready for it, since the Homeworld gems probably don't share that opinion, but..." I trailed off. No matter how many times I reminded myself, I knew I really couldn't just fix all this with an attempt at making friends with the _Diamonds_.

Amethyst placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know, man," she sighed.

We watched Pearl and Garnet finish up their sparring; they came up to join us on the steps, and we all sat there in silence for a good while, just staring up at what sky we could see. The ruins were usually pretty surrounded by clouds being so high up, but today they weren't super thick. In the distance I heard what I thought was some sort of rumbling - I couldn't be sure, so I just ignored it. I wanted to treasure this moment of calm.

"How are Lapis and Peridot getting along?" Pearl asked, voice low like she didn't want to scare off the quiet around us.

"They're doing well," I replied. "Peridot has all these crazy inventions going. I'm surprised by how much she's doing with just the resources from the barn. And Lapis has been saying the same thing the past few weeks - no sign of anything unusual in the immediate area."

"Good," Pearl sighed. "Maybe we don't have to worry so much..."

"The second we let our guard down, the second we invite a potential disaster," Garnet murmured. "But we can probably cut down on the training time again. Three days a week instead of the four we've been doing."

"Are you sure?" Pearl asked, frowning.

"Yup. We should focus on where our strengths lack, instead of trying to perfect things we already feel comfortable with."

My phone started buzzing in my pocket - I pulled it out to see it was a video chat call from Peridot. I pressed answer and held it up so she could see my face. "Hey, Peridot," I greeted, waving as she came into view, her face pretty close to the camera of her tablet. The Gems and Connie all leaned in a bit more to hear. "What's going on?"

"Steven!" Peridot cried, practically leaping back from her camera. "There's a Roaming Eye flying around our side of the country!"

"What?!" Pearl yelped.

"We'll be there in just a second!" I said, ending the call. All of us leapt to our feet - Connie took a second to grab Mom's sword - and ran to the warp pad. In a second we were in the country, running towards the barn. I looked up at the clear sky, and there it was. A Roaming Eye just like the Rubies' was hovering around in the near distance. Fortunately it wasn't facing the barn at the moment, but that could change at any time. We ran into the barn, where Lapis and Peridot were standing just inside the doors.

"I've prepared our attack bots," Peridot said, holding up a remote controller. "They'll be ready as soon as the Roaming Eye gets close enough."

"Now, hold on," Pearl interjected. "They might not think much of a simple barn in the country - they probably won't even know what it is. If we just stay hidden they might pass over us completely, right? Let's wait on the attack bots until we're sure they've noticed us."

We waited. It got closer at a steady pace, shining its bright yellow beacon down at the ground. I thought back to the first time we met the other Rubies, how Lapis had helped to protect Peridot, and how we'd played baseball to get them to go away. I doubted whatever gems had come in this one were going to be so easily tricked.

Connie and I stood peeking out through the barn doors. "Can they detect gems with that beam?" she asked softly.

"I think so..." I muttered. "I'm not really sure how it works, actually."

"If the beacon passes over the barn, they'll probably be able to detect all our gems," Peridot said grimly. "However, I've created what I believe will throw off their signal! If they do try to find any gems here, my little invention will interfere. If it works then they won't be able to detect any of us, and they'll go away!"

"But does this mean there are other Roaming Eyes in other places?" Amethyst asked. "They could have found Steven's house, and from all their reports they'll know what it is!"

"Should we split up again?" I suggested.

Garnet shook her head. "We'll wait to see what this one does first."

It was getting much closer, within a couple hundred yards of the barn. Suddenly, its beacon switched off. For a second I thought it was just going to leave - then it landed, roughly in the same spot the water tower used to be in. I felt everyone tense around me.

Its door opened, and of all gems I expected to pop out, I did _not_ expect to see another Amethyst. She came all the way out and was joined by two more, as well as a much shorter, red-skinned gem and a really tall one with markings a lot like Jasper's.

Amethyst gasped. "Holy smokes - guys, it's the gems from the human zoo! From my Kindergarten, and the Beta one too!"

She made a move to run outside, but Garnet putting a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Hold on," she said calmly. "We can't just run out and expect them to receive us the same way they did at the zoo. This is a lot more serious than taking Steven and Greg out of there - this time, they're here on orders from the Diamonds."

"But what if they're not?" I argued. "They could be here to join us - what if they abandoned the zoo to join the Crystal Gems?"

"That's a nice thought, Steven," Pearl sighed, hands fidgeting at her chest, "but we can't risk making assumptions. Besides, they don't really have much reason to betray Homeworld... other than the fact that Holly Blue is really mean to them."

I scowled and looked back out at the Amethysts, Carnelian, and Skinny Jasper. They were walking right towards the barn.

"Connie, go out and say hi to them," Garnet said. "They hopefully won't do much to a human - just don't tell them your name. They should still have the report Peridot gave them. Leave your sword here." She crouched down in front of Connie and her glasses disappeared, revealing her three eyes. They had a worried glint to them. "Just stay calm. If you need help, raise your hand in the air. We'll all be at your side in an instant."

"A-and I've got the attack bots ready to go at the push of a button!" Peridot said.

Connie nodded, expression one of determination. "Got it. Don't worry, I'll be careful." Taking a deep breath, she removed my mother's sword from across her chest and handed it to me. She walked right out of the barn and met the other gems head on.

They were close enough that we could all hear them speaking - they were actually standing in the same spot the Rubies had sort of crash landed, where we played baseball. "Uh, hi!" Connie greeted them. "Welcome to my barn! I, uh, I live here - I'm a human! You guys sure are, uh, some strange looking people. Are you from... um... Jersey...?"

The three Amethysts exchanged a glance. One of them had a slightly pinker skin tone, her gem placed on the back of her right hand; the next one had darker, purple skin, her gem on her right hip; and the last one had a skin tone closer to our Amethyst's, her gem on her left shoulder. If I was remembering correctly, these were the same gems who were in the same cut as Amethyst - 8XG, 8XL, and 8XJ.

"We're actually looking for a friend of ours," Skinny said, brows furrowed. "Maybe you've seen her around here? She's really short, shorter than her, even," she added, jabbing her thumb down at Carnelian standing beside her.

Connie glanced at the barn over her shoulder. "Um..." she stammered.

Amethyst and I exchanged a serious glance, and I knew we were on the same page. We scurried out of the barn, ignoring the cut off exclamation Pearl made, and joined Connie on either side of her. The other Amethysts, Skinny and Carnelian all looked surprised for a moment - then relieved, their shoulders slumping a little as they exhaled.

"What are you guys _doing_ here?" Amethyst asked, sounding concerned. "Shouldn't you be at the zoo? Did you ditch Holly Blue to come live with us?"

"I wish," Carnelian muttered.

"We're kinda here to warn you, actually," 8XL said in her gravelly voice. "We're supposed to be scouting around for signs of any other bases other than your main one... Blue and Yellow Diamond are here, in Yellow Diamond's ship." She pointed up at the sky.

I looked, but there was no sign of Yellow Diamond's giant arm ship right above us.

"The Diamonds are here?" Amethyst practically whispered. "On Earth...?"

8XL and 8XG nodded. "They've got a bunch of gems who said they know you guys," 8XJ said. "We don't know what they're going to do, but... well, Famethyst for life, right?"

"You guys would put yourselves in danger for me?" Amethyst cried. "Are you crazy?!"

"We were made here too," Skinny insisted. "After we met you - it's just, our Diamond is no longer... We shouldn't have to take orders from Blue Diamond, or even Holly Blue. When we were asked to come on this mission we knew we had to do something to warn you, if we could. This snooty Aquamarine and a Topaz fusion are taking all your gem friends to your base, along with this human they found with them."

"Lars," I gasped. "They have Lars? Is he okay?!"

"We haven't harmed any of them," 8XL said softly. "Neither have either of the Diamonds. They stayed in cells on the way here, but Yellow Diamond seemed really hesitant around them, actually. Especially the human."

"And they're at our base?" Amethyst said. She groaned and turned towards the barn, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Hey guys! Get out here! They're just here to warn us!"

Garnet, Pearl, Peridot and Lapis all rushed out to join us. "We heard everything," Pearl said, voice going up in pitch for a second. "Are you talking about the gems Steven met when he was running away from the Diamonds?"

They all looked confused. "Describe the other gems to us," I asked.

"Oh, well, there were two fusions," 8XL began, counting off her fingers and glancing up slightly as she thought. "I don't remember their names, but one big one is made of six gems."

"Fluorite and Rhodonite," I said. "Was a Sapphire with them?"

"Kinda," Carnelian said. "She couldn't really predict the future, though."

"That's Padparadscha. And was there two more, kinda sharing a body? Like twins?"

8XJ frowned down at me. "Yeah, I guess... so you do know them."

I whirled around. "We gotta get back home! Aquamarine and Topaz are back, they're taking Lars and all the Off Colors to our house!"

"We know, Steven, but we have to think about this," Garnet said, holding her hands up in a plea for me to slow down. "What if it's a trap?"

"Garnet, they have Lars and all our new friends!"

She stared at me for a moment, then looked back at the gems from the zoo. "Do any of you know why they're taking them to our base?" she asked.

The Amethysts and Carnelian all shrugged. "We have no idea what they're planning, but we're the only soldiers they brought with," Skinny said. "Aside from all of us and Holly Blue, Aquamarine, and the two Topazes, Yellow and Blue Diamond only brought their personal Pearls and these two Zircons from their courts."

"What?" I stammered. They brought both of them? Did they just want to finish up the trial - even though I'd already admitted to being guilty? I was surprised they hadn't just poofed or shattered either of the Zircons, especially the one who had represented me. "They - one of those Zircons, the blue one, she was helping me in the trial. She just straight out accused the Diamonds as having something to do with what happened to Pink Diamond."

8XL and 8XJ made hissing noises, suddenly looking much more nervous and scared.

"You all should continue patrolling the area," Garnet said. "We wouldn't want the Diamonds to find out you came and warned us. Lapis," she went on, turning to her, "can you fly to Steven's home and see what's going on there? Then we'll decide whether or not we should go back and meet them." Lapis nodded, and her wings sprouted from her back. She leapt into the air and was a blue spec in the sky in a matter of seconds.

"Are you guys sure you'll be okay?" Amethyst asked, stepping closer to her Prime and Beta Kindergarten family.

Her Amethyst siblings grabbed her into a fierce hug; Carnelian did the same once they let her go, and Skinny placed a hand on her head. "We'll be fine," she said. "Whatever the Diamonds think they can do to us..." She trailed off there, looking doubtful.

" _You_ just be careful," 8XG half-snarled.

"We'll help you out when and if we can," 8XJ promised. "But... don't expect too much from us as long as we're with either of the Diamonds."

"Yeah - just take care of yourselves, too," Amethyst urged. She looked at their ship and let out a big sigh. "You should all get going." They all nodded and headed back into the Roaming Eye - it was soon airborne again, and they started across the landscape, moving slowly like they were still patrolling but without the beacon.

I stared after it for a moment, then gave Connie the sword back. "Looks like you're gonna need this," I mumbled.

"Maybe we won't have to fight them," Connie said hopefully. Nevertheless she still slung the sword across her chest, holding tightly onto the strap in a show of nerves. "This could be a diplomatic visit. They are, after all, the rulers of Homeworld. What if they're just here to make up some sort of treaty before they leave us alone?"

"I wish," Garnet sighed, adjusting her glasses as she stared up at the sky in the direction Lapis had left in. "They still think the Cluster is going to emerge soon. A treaty would be a waste of time for them - then again, so would a full-out war..."

"I bet they want Steven to finish his testimony," Pearl growled. "They couldn't leave him be after how the trial ended... they must be here to recapture him!"

"There's Lapis," Garnet said.

We waited in silence until she reached us, breathing a bit hard. "I saw all of them," she panted, resting her hands on her knees and squinting through one eye. "They're on the beach, just standing there. It looks like those gems... what did you call them, Steven?"

"The Off Colors," I supplied.

She nodded. "Yes, they're all there, standing behind that Aquamarine and Topaz. It looked like they're restrained a bit, just enough to stop them from getting away since they definitely out-number the Diamonds' gems."

"What about Lars?"

"I saw him with them. I also saw Yellow Diamond's ship - it's just hovering in the air far above the ocean. It doesn't look like they want to come down to the ground."

Pearl hummed, holding a hand to her chin. "Perhaps they don't want to show themselves... they could be expecting their gems to do all the hard work while they simply watch, overseeing things so they go alright... Although, really, out of all the gems they've sent here, Aquamarine and Topaz actually knew what they were doing. Ah, no offense, Peridot."

"None taken," Peridot grunted, her attention on the remote for her bots.

"So what do we do, Garnet?" Connie asked.

For a few moments we got no reply as Garnet just stood there, seemingly staring off into the distance. Finally, after what felt like forever, she looked at all of us in turn. "We go and meet them," she said, "and we tell them to leave Lars and the Off Colors with us, get back on their ship, and go back to Homeworld!"

* * *

"They don't seem like they're going to get any closer," I said, glancing up at Garnet standing beside me. We were leaning against the railing to my porch, staring at Lars, the Off Colors, Topaz and Aquamarine all standing clustered at the very end of the beach close to the water. Garnet had told the others to wait in the house while she and I assessed the situation; I would have expected she would tell Connie, Lapis, Peridot and I to wait while she, Pearl and Amethyst scoped out the scene, but she didn't. Maybe because I knew the captured gems.

Garnet nodded. "We're going to have to go up to them after all. Come on, Gems!" She started walking down the stairs - I waited to follow until I was walking alongside Connie and Lapis, and we headed down the small hill and halfway across the beach, leaving a considerable distance between us and all the others. Connie grabbed my hand and we exchanged an apprehensive glance. Whatever happened, though, we would be prepared.

"Hello, Crystal Gems," Aquamarine shouted in consideration of the distance between us. She was standing on Topaz's shoulder and sounded kind of bored to be here. "As a peace offering, we're sending one of your little friends over to you."

Topaz bent over to remove what looked like cuffs from Padparadscha's wrists and nudged her towards us; it took her a second to react, but then she walked across the beach to stand a foot or so away from us. "Steven!" she gushed, grinning and holding her hands laced together in front of her chest. "We're all coming to Earth to see you! How wonderful." I smiled back and gestured for her to come a bit closer. She did.

"Padparadscha, these are my friends," I said. "Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie, Lapis and Peridot! We're glad to see you here."

"What do the Diamonds want with us?" Pearl asked.

"They want to talk!" Padparadscha replied, voice chipper.

Pearl and Garnet exchanged a glance, Pearl looking confused, but Aquamarine shouted at us again before either of them could say anything. "Now we'd very much like it if one of you came with us!" she yelled.

"Leave us alone, tiny!" Amethyst bellowed back, clenching her hands into fists.

Aquamarine held her hands up as if in surrender, and I could see she was smirking in a nasty kind of amusement. "Come now! We're not here to fight like last time. We don't even need Rose Quartz to come with us, just someone who can act as a messenger. Perhaps your Pearl could accompany us? That is what they're meant to do, after all."

"I am no regular Pearl! And I'd rather not!" Pearl cried back. Her voice wavered a touch.

Even though she was pretty far away, I heard Aquamarine groan. "Ugh, fine! Look, we'll send two more of your little friends over to you! _Then_ will one of you come with us?" This time Topaz didn't send anyone over right away - I got the vague feeling we were playing some sort of distorted game of Red Rover.

Garnet ushered all of us into a huddle. "Alright," she huffed. "It looks like we're going to have to do as they say. Think about it-" she held up a hand to interrupt Pearl from immediately disagreeing "-they're going to send two more of them over to us. We'll have the majority of them, and all we have to do is send _one_ of us back to them. And Pearl, I think Aquamarine is right. We should send you up to their ship."

Pearl made a squawking noise. " _Me_? Wh-why?"

"Maybe they won't suspect you to make much trouble - besides, you know how to work their technology." Garnet turned to Peridot, who stiffened and squeaked. "Peridot, you should go with her, since you know what to expect even more. It'll be a gesture of good favor."

"Are you making this plan up as you go?" Lapis grunted.

Garnet said nothing, just stared at her.

"Okay..." Pearl said slowly, sighing. "Peridot and I will go up onto their ship and see what it is the Diamonds want. But do you think it'll be safe for her?"

"If Yellow Diamond remembers me, she probably won't be too happy to see the gem who called her a clod," Peridot mumbled weakly, her shoulders quaking with a shudder.

"It'll be alright," Garnet assured. "We can get this over with, right here, right now. We'll wait until you two are up on the ship, and then we'll take out Aquamarine or Topaz - whoever stays behind - with the help of the Off Colors. You two can ambush whoever goes up with you and hurry to the ship's power source. If you can destroy that it'll crash into the water, and we can wait until any remaining gems get to the shore to poof and bubble them."

Amethyst made a weird face. "We're gonna bubble the Diamonds?" she echoed.

I looked up at the sky and caught a glimpse of a red dot going up to the ship. "It looks like famethyst are back on the ship," I said. "We can't just make it crash with them on it - and what about Zircon? She was really nice to me."

"Steven, we can't be nice to everyone right now!" Garnet said. "It isn't a perfect plan, but I can see it working."

"What other outcomes do you see?" Pearl asked wearily.

Grimacing, Garnet adjusted her glasses. "Well... none of them are very good... but if we just stick to this, things might work out for us.

"I suppose we could... try." Pearl sighed and turned back towards Aquamarine and Topaz, placing her hands on her hips. "Alright then. Let's go, Peridot."

"We're sending two of us over to you!" Garnet called. "So you send two back."

Topaz removed those cuff things from the Rutile twins' hands, as well as Rhodonite's. They ran over to us while Pearl and Peridot crossed the beach. "Oh goodness, oh my stars, oh we're doomed!" Rhodonite wailed as she got closer, two of her four hands going up to touch her face. "What are you all doing, sending two of you over to them?!"

I watched as Pearl and Peridot got on this little hover-board type thing just big enough for the two of them to stand on with Topaz; it looked like Aquamarine was staying on the beach with Fluorite and Lars. I was a bit bummed to see that, since we could have tried again to talk Topaz into helping us out if she'd stayed instead. Then again, maybe Pearl and Peridot could convince her to take them to the power source once they got on the ship.

Once they'd disappeared onto the ship I turned my attention to Rhodonite and the Rutile twins. "Are you guys all okay? Are you hurt?" I asked.

"We're fine," one of the Rutiles said, and the other immediately added, "We're okay." I decided to call the one on the right Rudy, and the one on the left could be Tillie, to distinguish them from here on out. But I could bring that up to them later.

"Yes, just a little terrified!" Rhodonite cried.

"It's all going to be okay," Garnet said soothingly, stepping a bit closer to them. "We're going to bring Yellow Diamond's ship down."

"Pearl and Peridot are now on the ship!" Padparadscha announced. "The Diamonds are there to greet them!"

"What?" I said. "Oh no... Garnet..."

Garnet sort of grimaced, staring up at the ship. "Oh no, indeed... that's not what I saw happening in the path that worked the best for us..." She held a hand over her mouth. "This isn't good at all. Oh, why did you send them up there? I didn't think it would go so poorly so quickly! They're going to be shattered!"

"Wha - Garnet, calm down!" I cried, recognizing that Ruby's and Sapphire's voices were coming out a bit more, sort of separated - the last time that happened she had nearly come undone in the face of one of the mutant gem fusions.

She crouched down in front of me. "Steven, we need to evacuate the city again. The ship is still going to come down, but Yellow Diamond isn't going to be too happy. I fear she'll try to destroy everything in sight. Take Connie with you and get everyone out as fast as you can - Amethyst and Lapis will take your friends into the Temple, and I'll try to get Lars and Fluorite away from Aquamarine. Go! Hurry!" She pushed me away in the direction of Beach City, ushering Connie along with me. I did as she said even though my heart was pounding and I was growing more and more scared - Yellow Diamond was going to destroy us? As Connie and I ran I glanced back; Lapis and Amethyst were hurrying the Rutile twins, Rhodonite, and Padparadscha towards the Temple, and Garnet had summoned her gauntlets as she rushed Aquamarine. The tiny blue gem seemed surprised for a second, then she just got her little wand thingy out and shouted something I couldn't hear at Garnet.

"Steven!" Connie gasped beside me. I focused back on sprinting towards the Big Donut, blinking tears out of my eyes. "Steven, we can do this! We just gotta raise an alarm... everyone will be okay, we'll help get them out and then we'll help Garnet against Aquamarine!"

"I hope you're right," I panted. "And I hope no one gets hurt...!"

* * *

 _A/N: Welp, here we go, y'all.  
_


	11. Part 11

This close to the surface, Yellow Diamond could see the Earth's ocean ebbing towards a white - what had Blue said it was called? A beach? Yes, up towards the _beach_. She could see Rose Quartz's base, too, and she frowned at it in bewilderment. It didn't look all that practical.

She turned away from the window and paced over to Blue Diamond. "What's taking them so long? Shouldn't they be here?" she snarled impatiently.

"Please, Yellow, give them time," Blue huffed. "I highly doubt they _want_ us here."

Yellow frowned at her, continuing to pace. She didn't like waiting... especially not when it had to do with _the_ Rose Quartz and her rebellion. Were they planning an attack? An escape? She went back to the window, but was thwarted halfway there; an arm slinked around her waist and shoved her back towards the far wall. She snarled meekly at Blue, struggling for a second to get out of her grip and then just succumbing to it. Blue leaned in close and kissed her on the cheek - she flinched slightly, knowing their Pearls were right over there by the door - on the nose, and on her lips. She recoiled and glanced in the direction of their Pearls. They had pointedly averted their gazes elsewhere.

"What?" Blue droned out, and Yellow knew she'd made a wrong move. "Do you not wish to kiss me in front of our Pearls?"

"Sh-should any of the gems in our courts know we're-..." Yellow trailed off. Was she allowed to say they were... together... or would that simply anger Blue more? At the same time, what if _not_ saying it angered Blue? She shook her head to herself. "Should they know we're together, Blue?" she whispered.

"Why shouldn't they?" Blue countered in a snap.

"I - can't we do this another time?"

Blue narrowed her eyes and took a large step back. She reached up and pulled her hood down farther, obscuring the upper half of her face aside from the tip of her nose. "Fine," she hissed, turning away.

Yellow stayed where she was, looking out the window from here instead, despite not getting a very good view of the beach. They continued to wait in apprehensive silence.

Finally, a small portion of the floor glowed, signaling the arrival of the small boarding pad the Aquamarine, Topaz fusion, and the prisoners used to get to the ground. From the glowing light emerged a Pearl, a Peridot without her limb enhancers, and Topaz. Yellow shuffled towards them eagerly but reminded herself at the last second that Blue was right - these Crystal Gems probably did _not_ want them here. She recognized the Peridot as the one from Facet 2F5L, Cut 5XG - the one who betrayed her orders. The Peridot saw her immediately and let out a surprised, shrieking yelp.

The Pearl suddenly leapt into action, summoning a spear from the gem on her forehead. With a cry she threw it across the room - it all happened so quickly that Yellow could only react with a sharp cry of her own as the spear lodged itself in her upper leg, splintering through her armor somehow. She saw Topaz summon her two clubs from the gems on either side of her head and bind them together, swiping at Peridot 5XG, who leapt away at the last second.

"Don't attack them!" Blue shrieked.

But the Pearl and Peridot 5XG were already gone, opening the door and sprinting through it. "The power source is this way!" Yellow heard Peridot 5XG yell.

"Go after them!" she ordered Topaz. The fusion's stoic expression fell for a second, then she nodded and hurried after them. Yellow tried to step forward. The spear in her leg shifted painfully, eliciting a gasp and a slight groan. She grabbed onto its end - only a few inches of the very end of it showed; the Pearl had a very good throwing arm, it seemed - and slowly pulled the rest of it out. She dropped it to the floor and it vanished.

"Yellow! Are you alright?" Blue abruptly appeared in front of her, kneeling to inspect the bleeding wound. She'd pulled her hood off at some point.

"I'm fine," Yellow said through gritted teeth. She wrenched herself away from Blue and started limping off in the direction they'd gone in. "Come with me, Pearl," she ordered as Yellow Pearl opened the door for her, probably acting on pure instinct.

"M-my Diamond, you're bleeding," she stammered.

"I said I'm fine!" Yellow shouted. "Come with me, now!" Her Pearl curtsied and scurried after her, virtually running to keep up with her longer strides, wincing with every limp her Diamond took. They hurried down the halls in the direction of the power core at the center of the ship - she only hoped they wouldn't be too late.

Fortunately, by the time they made their way there, it was still completely intact. The Pearl was fighting Topaz while Peridot 5XG worked away at the control pad in front of the power core. She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of the door opening.

"Eh, Pearl! We've got some more company!" she yelled, voice high and wavering.

"My Diamond, watch out!"

Another spear lodged itself in Yellow's upper arm, through the much thinner mesh of armor covering there. She ignored this one and advanced on the Pearl - she quickly summoned not one, but two more spears from her gem - trying to find the words to ask her to stop resisting and failing through the chaos in her mind. Pain surged in her two new injuries, blurring her thoughts, and she already had half her attention on Peridot 5XG.

"Please, stop that!" she snapped at the Pearl as she blocked attacks from Topaz. "Pearl, get that Peridot away from the control panel!"

A warning siren started to sound. Yellow turned to the power core - it had turned from yellow to red. Peridot 5XG had overheated the system. It was going to explode any given second. But how were they all going to get out in time? Yellow yanked her Pearl up from the floor and held a hand out to cover the Topaz from any more attacks from the Pearl of the Crystal Gems, shoving her in the direction of the door.

"Ruuuuunnn!" Peridot 5XG screamed.

She and the Pearl made it out of the room first. Yellow shoved her own Pearl through the door and closed it, catching the tail-end of her squeaking protest. She went to the control panel and tried to cancel whatever Peridot 5XG had done, working desperately. She just hoped her Pearl would have the sense to run back up to wherever Blue was and tell her to abandon the ship. In only a small matter of seconds it was going to-

A ringing, hissing sound reached her ears, and she had just enough time to cover her gem before the power core exploded.

* * *

The ship rocked violently - Blue nearly stumbled into the wall - and pitched sideways, angling itself to the ocean below them right as the windows shattered and smoke started pouring in through the door. She screamed in terror and fumbled for her Pearl, managing to catch her before she went flying through the broken window. But where was Yellow? Where was her Pearl, or the rest of the gems they followed?

Another part of the ship exploded. She could feel it through the floor; it felt like it was the middle, in the crook of the arm-shape.

"My Diamond, we should probably abandon the ship," her Pearl said, somehow still soft-spoken and sounding calm, her small hands clutching Blue's finger.

"We can't just leave without Yellow," Blue argued. She climbed her way to the door and opened it. Smoke poured out and she coughed, squinting against the sting of it in her eyes. She powered through it, forgetting for the time being that the ship was careening into the water and she and her Pearl were going to be in danger if they stayed here much longer.

She somehow made it through most of the halls before finally stumbling upon more gems, their forms blurry in the thick smoke. It was the two Topazes, unfused, as well as the gems they'd brought from the zoo. She nudged them all in the direction she'd come, hoping they would get to the broken window and leap out. The ship was falling too fast - they could easily be crushed and lose their form, and their gems would then sink to the bottom of the ocean. Blue looked in the direction she was trying to go in, imaging Yellow stuck under a broken part of the ship. Shutting her eyes tight she turned away and bundled up all the gems in her arms and ran in a slightly different direction in search for the two Zircons. She found them pounding against a window facing the blue sky, holding on desperately to whatever they could to avoid falling. Grabbing them as well - they situated themselves to hold on tightly to her cloak, or onto her shoulders or neck, as the other gems were, too - she slammed her elbow against the window. It splintered, but didn't break. She rammed against it again and nearly lurched through the sudden opening; she righted her balance and leapt through.

The plummet into the ocean was short. Right as she and all the smaller gems clutching to her fell into the water, pieces of the ship followed right after them. Blue hastily swam farther away to avoid the larger chunks. She breached the surface and looked for the beach - it wasn't too far away, and she knew the ship wasn't going to land on it. They'd been far enough away.

She swam as fast as she could, praying all the gems holding onto her wouldn't lose their grip. Pieces of the ship, smoking and careening from the sky, fell around them. Finally she reached the beach and dragged herself onto the sand. Her clothes felt heavy from the water and made it all the more difficult. She fell onto her stomach, panting, and felt the group of gems clutching to her all letting go to stand on solid ground. Above them, the ship exploded.

"My Diamond!" Blue Pearl cried softly, appearing in front of her face.

Blue grunted and struggled into a more upright position. Her elbow was bleeding. "Is everyone here?" she asked, glancing around and doing a mental count; both Topaz and Zircon, all three Amethysts, and the single Agate, Jasper and Carnelian. She heaved a sigh of relief.

Two resounding battle cries suddenly entered her ears, and she looked up. A fusion suddenly appeared in her line of sight, her fist cocked back. She didn't have time to react and the fist collided with her face, the ferocious impact smacking her head to the side. What felt like a whip slashed at her leg, but thankfully her thick cloak blocked most of the hit. She looked down and saw a small Amethyst whipping away at her - then the fusion appeared again, leaping off the sand and aiming for her face again. This time she managed to dodge her.

"Wait!" she cried. "Please, we aren't here to _fight_!"

Three more Crystal Gems swooped in from the air - the Pearl and the Peridot were clinging to the Lapis Lazuli, who flew them down to the sand. The five of them stood in a group farther up the beach and Blue stood, intent on protecting the gems with her. Aquamarine flew in from seemingly nowhere and went up to be a bit more level with her face.

"My Diamond," she panted. She looked battered and scuffed, like she'd definitely taken a beating. "We've been ambushed! They took all the prisoners into their base."

"That doesn't matter!" Blue snapped. "Don't fight back!"

"My Diamond, we can't just-"

"I said, _don't fight back_!"

She heard a series of more cries, and glanced down at the Crystal Gems, running towards her and her gems with weapons or just their fists raised. Tears erupted in her eyes - what was she going to do? How could she protect her gems without fighting back? But they hadn't come here for this, they just wanted to _talk_ -

"Guys! No! Waaaaiiit!"

Rose Quartz suddenly came running around a bend much farther up the beach, a human sprinting at her side. The Crystal Gems actually came to an abrupt halt.

Blue felt like she couldn't get enough air. She fell to her knees, turning over her shoulder to look at where the ship fell. Most, if not all of the pieces, had already sunk. Smoke continued to rise from those that remained on the surface. A sob made its way out her mouth before she could even register the continued gushing of tears creating rivers down her cheeks. There was no sign of Yellow - but wait! Clinging to a floating piece of the ship was Yellow Pearl.

"Aquamarine, go help that Pearl!" Blue ordered, whirling on the hovering, tiny gem and pointing out Yellow's Pearl. Aquamarine hurried to do as she ordered, zipping across the surface of the water to reach the Pearl and grab her by the arm, hoisting her up. With some struggle, since the Pearl was a decent bit bigger than her, they headed back to the beach. Blue surveyed the rest of her gems. None of them seemed hurt in any way, just wet. The Amethysts, Jasper, Carnelian and Topazes all looked hesitant, but more or less stood in stances prepared for a fight; the Zircons and Holly Blue hunched behind them, and Blue Pearl stood close to her Diamond, an anxious grimace stretched across the lower half of her face. Aquamarine heaved Yellow Pearl onto the sand and she coughed water out of her mouth. Blue hurried to her, gingerly picking her up in both hands. "Where is Yellow? Did you see her?" she cried.

"I-I don't know," Yellow Pearl wheezed. "There was too much smoke... I don't know!"

Blue whirled around to face the Crystal gems. Rose Quartz and the human stood between her and them. "What have you done?!" she roared. She had half a mind to place the Yellow Pearl down gently; she stomped forward, over her group of gems, hands clenched into fists. "What have you done?! Who knows what could have happened to her, she followed you into the power room! She could have been _shattered_!"

The Pearl had the nerve to look guilty. "Blue Diamond," the fusion yelled back, "we are not going to let you harm this planet, or its life!"

"Garnet, I said _wait_! Please!" Rose Quartz cried. The fusion faltered.

"But Steven, we have to do the plan!" Lapis Lazuli hissed out through her teeth.

"No," Rose Quartz said. "We can't poof any of them. Just... just let Connie and I talk to her! Maybe we can form some sort of truce-?"

"Steven, they're here to bring us and the planet harm," the Pearl interrupted.

"We are _not_!" Blue wailed, shutting her eyes tight against the onslaught of tears. She couldn't see through them very well, anyway. "We only came to _talk_ ," she went on. "All we want is to understand _something_ , and if Rose Quartz really doesn't know what happened to Pink Diamond, there has to be something else about all this we can understand! Please, we do not wish to fight you! Just let me look for Yellow, _please_."

Rose Quartz took a few more steps forward. "Blue Diamond, I am not Rose Quartz! My name is Steven, and I'm a half-gem, half-human! Rose is just my mom."

Blue blinked in confusion - but she could deal with that later. Shaking her head, she turned to the water, shedding her cloak and picking her skirts up to sprint to its edge. She only got in up to her ankles when both Aquamarine and Lapis Lazuli zoomed past her, their watery wings blending in with the surface of the ocean. She followed them, searching desperately for Yellow, when she heard a loud crash. Whirling back around, she saw her fellow Diamond had dragged herself from the side of the beach behind the Crystal Gems. The crashing sound had come from her hand breaking through the stairs and deck just in front of their base as she fell.

"Yellow!" she screamed, hurrying back out of the water. Yellow Pearl sprinted to her Diamond before she even reached the edge of the sand.

Yellow groaned and rolled onto her stomach, arms shaking as she tried to push herself up onto her hands and knees. Her golden armor was smeared with blood and ash. A few shards of shrapnel pierced through her body - her arms, mostly, but also her legs and torso. She managed to actually get to her feet and she looked to Blue, who gasped at the sight of a giant, bleeding cut down the side of her face. She hurried to her side just in time to catch her before she fell back to the ground, sobs pouring from her throat anew.

She heard a clang of metal and turned to see three of the Crystal Gems were attacking again, and the two Topaz had blocked their fresh assault. They started to fight and Aquamarine leapt into the fray, only to be tackled through the air by Lapis Lazuli.

" _Stop_!" Blue screamed. A wave of blue light pinged off her body and brought every gem in its widening radius to a complete stop. The Crystal Gems all looked to her in tearful surprise, including the human standing beside Rose Quartz. Blue situated herself so she was sitting back on her haunches, with Yellow resting in her lap. The golden-skinned gem wheezed painfully. Most of her armor was splintered and poking into her form, and Blue got the terrifying thought that it was closing in too tight on her chest.

"My Diamond, perhaps we should flee," her Pearl hissed up at her.

"No," Blue whimpered. She looked to the Crystal Gems. "Please, please just listen to me! We did not come here to fight! Yellow and I simply wish to speak to Rose Quartz again."

"And I'm trying to tell you that Rose Quartz isn't exactly... here," Rose piped up. She exposed the gem on her stomach. "I have her gem because she gave up her physical form to give birth to me. I'm her son, Steven."

"...Steven," Blue repeated softly in bemusement. "That... that can't be..."

Yellow moaned in pain and tried to sit up - Blue instantly saw the fusion she believed Rose, or Steven, or _whoever_ called Garnet tense into a fighting stance. She wrapped her arms around Yellow's chest and yanked her against her body. "Blue..." she mumbled past a string of blood that spattered onto the sand, "let me go."

"They might attack you," Blue whispered. "Besides, your wounds are too severe. Stay still and follow my lead for once." Yellow remained stiff for a few moments longer, then relaxed against her with a painful sounding exhalation of breath.

"We aim to finish this once and for all," Garnet bellowed.

"Just restrain yourself," Blue snarled weakly. "We only came here to see what this planet is like. If you continue to attack us I will have no choice but to order my gems to defend themselves! I _will_ protect them if I have to!"

Rose Quartz - no, _Steven_ , apparently - ran back to once again stand between them. "I will listen to you, Blue Diamond! I'm sorry about this. We shouldn't have destroyed your ship."

"Steven, don't _apologize_!" the small Amethyst yelled.

He ignored her. "We were all scared about what to expect from Homeworld gems coming here - none of us thought you would come in peace. On behalf of the Crystal Gems, I'm really sorry. Can we call a truce?"

Blue sighed in slight relief. "Please."

"Alright," he said, smirking slightly and nodding. "Truce, then." His gaze fell on Yellow and whatever brief second of happiness had been in his features shifted into worry. "Is she going to be okay? She hasn't poofed or anything..."

"It takes a lot more than this to force a Diamond to drop her form," Blue murmured. She gazed down at Yellow. "Maybe it would be best if you let it go, though. You can heal inside your gem. I'll protect you, I promise, and I'll take care of the rest of our gems," she whispered imploringly. Unable to help herself, she batted away a few tears and leaned down slightly to kiss her on the forehead, ignoring the taste of blood and smoke.

Yellow sighed - specs of blood flew out of her mouth. "I want to hear what... _Steven_... has to... say," she groaned. "I should be... fine..."

"I don't think you will be. Just trust me." Blue stared at her for a moment. "I love you."

Yellow blinked slowly and stared back for a long while. Then she let her eyes slip shut - and her form disappeared in a poof of air. Blue caught her gem and cradled it to her chest.

* * *

Blue sat beside the hill, leaning against a more sheer side of it. Steven sat on the grass next to her shoulder, propped up to his "pet" called Lion. She gazed down at him before looking back up at all the rest of the gems scattered about the beach. They were all sitting just as they were. Staring at the sun setting into the ocean.

Yellow hadn't yet reformed; Blue had insisted they wait for her, still holding her gem close to her own in her chest, and in the meantime she asked her gems to assist in clearing away the few pieces of the ship that had fallen onto the beach. Its remains continued to smolder, but only a little, not quite hindering the view of the sunset. They stayed fairly far away from the Crystal Gems and the few dysfunctional gems they'd brought with, who had come out of Steven's base to help with the clean-up.

 _Steven_. Blue still thought it was a strange name, and it felt uncomfortable on her tongue. She was trying not to think about the rest of it - how he claimed to be Rose Quartz's _son_ when gems didn't have children, how he said she gave up her form for him. It made a bit more sense just looking at him and considering how little he knew about Pink Diamond. Hopefully that just meant someone else in the Crystal Gems _did_ know. Blue wasn't holding her breath, though. Already she was coming to terms with the fact that she just might not learn what happened to Pink for a little while longer.

She observed the slight ways all of them _were_ interacting with each other; the gems from the zoo, with the exception of Holly Blue, seemed to be subtly trying to sit closer to the small Amethyst. All three of the Pearls were openly ignoring each other. It looked like the two Topaz were trying to talk to the three fusions, Garnet, Rhodonite, and Fluorite. Blue caught her Zircon wave hesitantly in Steven's direction. And, a bit farther down the hill, sat the human who had accompanied him onto the beach. He'd said her name was Connie.

"What a lovely planet," she said quietly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Steven glance up at her, and she nodded in the direction of the setting sun. "There are so many... colors. We don't get anything like this on Homeworld."

"That's kinda sad," Steven murmured. "The sunset is one of the best parts of the day! You never really know what colors it's gonna be - sometimes it's reds and yellows and oranges, sometimes it's blues and purples. I'm glad you get to see this, Blue Diamond." She smiled down at him a bit awkwardly, still a little unsure. It felt strange being near rebellious gems she had once been fighting against thousands of years ago. "How is Yellow Diamond doing? Does she usually take this long reforming?" Steven asked quietly, pointing.

Blue chuckled lightly. "I'm not sure. Like I said, it takes quite a bit to force a Diamond to let go of her form." She glanced at the yellow gem in her hands, stroking its smooth surface with her thumbs. "Yellow was hurt pretty badly," she half-whispered, half-sighed. "I'm not sure how long it'll take her to regain her strength."

Steven looked down at his hands in his lap. "I'm sorry about all that. Her and your ship."

"You were scared."

"Yeah, but we shouldn't have just assumed you guys wanted to fight. Aquamarine was even being nice, letting some of the Off Colors come over to us instead of just ordering us to go up to your ship. Now you guys have no way off Earth."

"The Off Colors...?"

Steven pointed out the dysfunctional gems. "That's what they call themselves, since they don't think they would ever fit in, not anywhere on Homeworld. We were trying to figure out a way to get them and Lars - that's the human Aquamarine and Topaz kidnapped - back here. Where they'd be safe and free to be whoever they wanted."

Blue studied the four gems, frowning. "You are truly impressive," she murmured. "I don't know how - oh. Never mind. I suppose I'm talking about Rose Quartz."

He looked up at her, expression serious, and got to his feet. "I might not be Rose Quartz, but I know everything she, Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst fought for. Her and _all_ the Crystal Gems, all those who were shattered or became corrupted, like all those others. They fought for the right to be and change, to love, and to experience. Take Garnet, for example," he said, pointing out the fusion. She glanced over her shoulder slightly as if she heard him talking about her. "She's made up of two gems called Ruby and Sapphire. She told me that Sapphire was part of your court, and that Ruby's rash decision to save her the day my mom and Pearl came to attack you basically caused the war to keep going. And you threatened to shatter Ruby because she accidentally fused with Sapphire. They ran away and found my mom, and she told them - she told _Garnet_ \- that she was the answer to what Ruby and Sapphire had. She's the embodiment of their love. How can you threaten to shatter them for that? How can you and other Homeworld gems think that's wrong?"

Blue didn't respond right away; she simply stared at the fusion until she turned back around and leaned over to say something to the Pearl beside her. "I remember that day well," Blue said. "I remember what they looked like - it wasn't like how they are now. That's... interesting. You - Rose Quartz said they embodied... love?"

"Ruby's and Sapphire's," Steven said, nodding. "That's why Garnet can stay fused all the time, because their love for each other is so strong."

"I suppose that is rather nice," Blue murmured. She glanced down at Steven. "I know a thing or two about love, you know. I am, after all, thousands of years old."

His gaze flickered to her hands. "I heard what you said to Yellow Diamond," he whispered, so quietly she had to lean down a tiny bit to hear. "Do you love her? Did... did you love Pink Diamond?" he asked.

Blue laughed, a bit bitterly, and wiped away tears she could feel pooling in the corner of her eye. She looked at the sun. "Yes, I do. And I did. Pink was my... my best friend. We cared for each other. I helped her find her place in the Diamond Authority, as she was the youngest. She encouraged me to get closer to Yellow and I encouraged her to request the Earth for her own."

Steven must have sensed her sad lull, because he said slowly, "You blame yourself for what happened to her."

"Grieving for thousands of years didn't make up for it," Blue sighed. "I just don't know what happened. None of it makes any sense - I think Yellow and I simply assumed Rose Quartz had to have... shattered her... because she was the only one with the motive to. Pink didn't want to give up the Earth, but I think... she wouldn't have wanted the war to go on as it did. She would have tried to come up with a better alternative than so much fighting that we had to result to..." She trailed off and shook her head, thinking about the tone with which Steven had talked about the corruption she and the other Diamonds had caused in the remaining gems on Earth. To this day she still regretted it - she didn't know how Yellow felt, and she couldn't assume. In those days Yellow had very much been the level-headed general who didn't take emotion into any sort of consideration. "Yellow and I didn't mean to scare you," she said to Steven, meeting his gaze. He sat back down on the grass beside Lion. "When you escaped from the courtroom we just wanted to find you and talk to you. I made her promise to me that we wouldn't shatter you, even if we ruled a guilty sentence."

"I really don't know what happened," Steven sighed, sounding tired as he glanced away for a second. "The Gems won't tell me, either - although I'm not entirely sure they have the answers in the first place. But they fought really hard to protect this planet and everything on it, so of course they wanted to react first when you guys got here. I'm sorry."

"You should stop apologizing. We are as much at fault."

He brought one of his hands up to clutch at his shirt over his gem. For a good handful of moments he was quiet. "There's something I should tell you, Blue Diamond," he said eventually, looking up at her with a hesitant expression.

"What is it?" Blue asked.

"Peridot told us all about the Cluster and what it was meant for," Steven began. "And... well, we couldn't let it just tear apart the planet. So we drilled into the Earth and we bubbled the Cluster. It isn't going to emerge."

Blue frowned. Even she, a Diamond, didn't think she could _bubble_ something as gigantic as the Cluster. What sort of power did this Steven have...? He was half-human - wasn't that supposed to give him some limitations? As far as Blue was concerned, humans really didn't have any of the capabilities of a gem. They were frail creatures. It made very little sense that Steven could have done such a thing with the Cluster! Then again, virtually nothing in regards to this planet made any sense. Blue supposed she should be used to that by now.

"Does that, uh... make you upset?" Steven asked, as she had yet to so much as open her mouth to offer a response.

She sighed, glancing back at all the gems farther up the beach. Part of her was still decently worried that the Crystal Gems would attack again - fear was a very powerful motive. "I cannot really say I am _upset_ ," she murmured. "That _does_ give us time to... stay here."

"Were you worried that it would emerge soon?"

"Yes, but that clearly doesn't matter anymore. It makes me a bit less stressed about being stuck on this planet... from various reports I understand that all the galaxy warp pads have long been destroyed. I'm also fairly sure that the ship you all used to get to the human zoo was recaptured by one of the Rubies assigned to it." She glanced behind her at the Crystal Gems' base. The stairs leading up to it and a good portion of the deck were splintered and caved in, hindering entrance. "I'm not even sure how long we plan on staying here," she hummed. "All this was Yellow's idea. She's really changed. What she thinks now seems much different than how she thought of things five thousand years ago... I hope you don't mind that we might have to join you in your base."

Steven laughed, jostling Lion a bit so that the creature picked its head up from the ground to glance at him. "I don't know if my house is big enough to fit not only two Diamonds, but all the rest of the gems you brought with," he chuckled. "I don't really think Pearl or Garnet want any of you to go into the Temple, either... but we'll figure that out."

Blue smiled down at him in understanding and gratitude, then let out a small gasp as a shining light emerged from between her fingers. She carefully set down Yellow's gem before her on the sand; it floated into the air and she watched as Yellow reformed around it, her physical appearance hardly changed from how it had been before she was poofed. She planted her feet on the ground and let out a small huff, inspecting herself with a scowl. There was a tired look to her despite the time she'd taken to reform.

Steven got to his feet, looking nervous. Yellow instantly noticed him and they appeared to lock gazes. Her lips twitched up into a vague grimace and Blue could see just how nervous she was as well, practically mirroring Steven's apparent feelings. The blue-skinned gem got to her feet, brushing sand from her skirts, and stepped closer to her fellow Diamond.

"I'm so glad you're back," she murmured.

Yellow's features softened and her shoulders deflated with a sigh. "Thank you for protecting me," she said quietly. Her posture abruptly snapped back into the uptight, militaristic stance so typical of her, although Blue knew this was what she did when she was anxious around her fellow Diamond. It was all there in the way her shoulders rose up higher than necessary and her cheeks flared in a blush. Blue chuckled lightly, amused by the display. She knew what the golden-skinned gem was so jittery about - Blue's love confession. But was it really a confession? Personally, Blue thought their feelings for each other were obvious enough. Yellow, on the other hand, was a bit stupid when it came to these things.

"You're welcome," Blue said simply, resting a hand on her chest plate and gazing deep into her eyes to convey that she didn't need the reciprocated words just yet. Yellow seemed to understand - her shoulders lowered a tiny bit and she glanced downwards. "We waited for you," Blue went on. "Steven and I have just been talking a little about the Earth... he told me he and the others bubbled the Cluster. It isn't going to emerge."

"What?" Yellow barked, quickly looking back up in alarm. "How - _what_?"

"Uh, Yellow Diamond," Steven said timidly, and she turned her eyes onto him, scowling harshly in confusion. He offered a minute wave. "H-hi. Perhaps we should all talk somewhere else? I'm not sure where, but just somewhere more comfortable. And I'd like the two of you to talk to the others as well. Please."

Yellow's scowl deepened. She huffed out a sharp sigh and clasped her hands behind her back. "Very well," she said. A hopeful tint entered her tone and Blue smiled lightly. "Let's talk."

* * *

 _A/N: So, in all honesty, I'm really not sure how I feel about this chapter. I might end up rewriting it later, and I'll tell y'all if I do._

 _Let me know how you guys felt about this chapter and if you feel it needs to be changed or not. Till next time!_


	12. Part 12

They sat together on the beach. _Steven_ and his friend, whom he had introduced to Yellow Diamond as Connie, built a fire for light and their own warmth. Yellow noticed the human they had brought with on the ship was gone. Steven had told her he'd sent this other friend home, to be with his parents and friends since he hadn't seen any of them for months. And what could Yellow do besides accept it? She waited - patiently, for the most part - with Blue Diamond while Steven first talked to his fellow Crystal Gems in the growing darkness of the Earth's night, then built up the fire and asked the two Diamonds and all their gems to please sit around it in a circle so they could all talk. The Crystal Gems all stayed particularly close; Yellow noticed the gems from the zoo, aside from Holly Blue Agate, were sitting closest to them on one side, and on the other side those dysfunctional gems sat. The Zircons, Topazes, Aquamarine, and Pearls sat nearer to their Diamonds. The divisions were not lost on Yellow.

Apparently, they were waiting for one last member of the Crystal Gems - another human, Steven's father. Yellow stared down at him and his little army - or, more accurately, she supposed, his _mother's_ army - as her impatience grew, arms crossed over her chest. Beside her, Blue seemed content to just stare up at the night sky, a soft smile on her face.

Finally, after what felt like much too long, some contraption rolled around the corner much farther up the beach and parked near the hill leading up to Steven's base, or home, or whatever. A human, larger than Steven and Connie, got out of one side and hustled over to join the Crystal Gems. His gaze, panicked and nervous, went up to both Yellow and Blue. She could practically feel his apprehension at seeing them here; the light of the fire only helped so much, and he was still standing farther back, behind Steven, the fusion called Garnet, and the rogue Pearl, bent over to speak quietly with them. Yellow resisted the urge to roll her eyes and let them have their little moment, but she knew she wouldn't be able to hold back much longer. All this waiting was grating on her nerves.

"Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond," Steven said, voice raised a bit so it carried all the way up to the two towering gems. Blue tore her gaze off the sky. "This is my dad. His name is Greg."

"Oh, I remember you. From Pink's palanquin," Blue hummed.

The human Greg raised a hand to rub the back of his neck, laughing nervously. "Uh, yeah. I remember you two, er... ma'am."

"Does this mean we get to talk now?" Yellow huffed.

Steven glanced around. "Yeah - everyone's here. Go ahead, Yellow Diamond."

Yellow sighed in aggravation and turned to Blue; her fellow Diamond simply offered a supportive nod, the look in her eyes speaking to an interest in what Yellow had to say. The problem with that, however, was that Yellow wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to say at all. Yes, she was confused about everything that had to do with Pink Diamond and her demise, and now there was the question of whatever Steven really was, not to mention he was somehow powerful enough to _bubble_ the Cluster to stop it from emerging, and he clearly had the same charm as the Rose Quartz the Diamond authority knew. However else could he have so easily befriended the band of dysfunctional gems, and seemingly the gems from Pink's old army as well? Even the two Topaz appeared more comfortable around him, and so did the Blue Zircon. It was only their two Pearls, the Yellow Zircon, Holly Blue Agate, and Aquamarine who were a bit more less than pleased to really be around the rebels.

She glanced back to Blue, hoping she might have words for this moment. The blue-skinned gem arched an eyebrow, now looking a touch worried. "Perhaps we should start with you, Steven," she said softly. Yellow deflated slightly in relief. "Could you please explain how it is you have Rose Quartz's gem?"

He nodded and pointed to Greg. "Well, this is my dad. He met Rose Quartz and the rest of the Crystal Gems when he was younger and he and Rose fell in love. My mom got pregnant with me, I guess. But she had to give me her gem when I was born, because we couldn't both exist... I'm not sure I understand much of it myself, but I think that's okay. Now I have her gem and some of her powers even though I'm half-human, they just don't always work all the time."

"So... Rose Quartz no longer exists?" Blue asked slowly.

"Pretty much."

"You took over command of her army?" Yellow asked.

"No, Garnet did that," Steven said, gesturing to the fusion. She maintained a very stoic expression - what Yellow could see of it, anyway. "And Pearl, kinda. Amethyst here came out of the Prime Kindergarten really late, and my mom encouraged her to join the Crystal Gems. Then Lapis and Peridot joined us after Peridot got stuck on Earth and she realized its worth protecting, because of its uniqueness, its life... and Lapis feels like it's a bit more of a home than Homeworld is to her at this point."

"What became of the Jasper that came here with the two of them?" Yellow huffed, pointing from Peridot 5XG to the Lapis Lazuli.

Steven exchanged a glance with Garnet; she shrugged. "Uh, Jasper... she fused with a corrupted gem, and she wouldn't let me try to heal her," he muttered, hands fidgeting near his covered gem. "Peridot poofed her and we bubbled her. She's safe in our care, she's just damaged... like all the other gems here on Earth aside from us."

Yellow grimaced. She had come to regret that decision, or at least her part in it, as she knew Blue had. "And the Cluster, it isn't going to emerge?" she said to change the subject.

"No," Steven said, shaking his head. "Peridot and I drilled into the Earth and tried to... I don't know, break it I guess, but that didn't work. I talked to the gems inside it and helped them bubble each other, then bubble the entirety of them."

Blue leaned forward, eyes widened in shock. "You _talked_ to those gems?"

"They're fractured - shards of previously shattered gems," Yellow half-snapped, not to be harsh but to convey how impossible that had to be. "There is absolutely no way you-"

"Steven has abilities even Rose Quartz did not possess," Garnet interrupted. Her voice was a smooth, low timber. "I for one have hope he might even be able to heal corrupted gems, somehow. It did not surprise me that he was able to bubble the Cluster. Gems just tend to trust him, believe in him - much like they once believed in Rose Quartz and her so-called anti-Homeworld ideas. But I don't expect either of you to understand any of that."

Yellow stiffened automatically; Blue's hand rested on her leg and she calmed, pushing back the hostility. "We'd like to _try_ and understand what it is you all fought for," she growled. "To try to understand what happened to our fellow Diamond. After five thousand years of thought, I for one have steadily grown to regret some of our decisions in the war. Particularly the one that harmed gems, ours and yours alike, in such an irreversible, devastating way. I hope _you_ understand, at least, that it was not solely mine nor Blue's idea to do that." She looked to the blue-skinned gem again and saw her sentiments reflected back at her. Below them, all the other gems and the three humans were staring up at them. For the first time in her very long existence Yellow wished she did not tower over every other gem as much as she did... and she pictured Pink, so small, roughly the same size as - though perhaps the slightest bit taller than - the fusion Garnet. She thought of how she had initially treated Pink, so differently than how Blue had; she'd berated the youngest Diamond for being as childish as she had been while Blue encouraged her to try and fight to get a planet and colony of her own.

Perhaps it was all the other Diamonds' fault that Pink met the fate she did. Not Rose Quartz, though she was the prime suspect for the action itself. Yellow had made Pink believe she was less than an actual Diamond; Blue had encouraged her, even helped her as much as she could to get the Earth as her first colony; and White...

Shaking away all thoughts of the oldest Diamond, Yellow returned her attention on the here and now. This line of thinking did not quite sit right with her. "If I may... I'd like to ask something of a different subject," she murmured, meeting Steven's gaze. He nodded and smiled quite warmly. "You infiltrated the human zoo. It also appears you've made friends with a few of the gems stationed there-" she gestured to the three Amethysts, the Carnelian, and the slender Jasper, who all flinched "-and I would be remiss to withhold my suspicion that they may have warned you about us coming. Am I correct?"

"M-my Diamond, we didn't-" Amethyst 8XL stammered, waving her hands.

Yellow interrupted her. "Neither of us are mad. I am simply asking." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Blue nod in agreement, even smiling at the huddle of gems.

"Yeah, we're friends," the small Amethyst of the Crystal Gems practically growled. "If you got any issues with that, you can talk to me."

"You're quite feisty," Yellow hummed. "How did you all do it?"

She and Steven exchanged a look, and Yellow realized just how anxious and quietly terrified the Pearl appeared, sitting in the background. Her gaze was stuck on her feet or the sand and she had not once, Yellow noted, glanced up at either her or Blue. Not even at any of the other gems aside from the five from the zoo, and even that was rather brief.

"They helped us get my dad out of the zoo," Steven replied.

"Because we're all from Earth," the small Amethyst said. "We felt a connection."

The three Amethysts, Carnelian, and Jasper all nodded in hesitant agreement, eyes flicking in Blue's direction. She was, after all, their Diamond in the wake of Pink's death, and if they had any punishment to fear it would come from her.

"It's really quite impressive, how you've built your army," Blue said. She grimaced slightly but smiled at the same time. "Or I suppose... how Rose Quartz built her army, and how _you_ have made friends with so many more gems who we were told you - or rather, again, Rose Quartz - was the enemy. Perhaps our greatest enemy... You see, no gem has ever shattered a Diamond. No gem has even attempted to harm one of us. Rose Quartz's rebellion was a shock when it started." She glanced down at her Zircon, and the poor gem shrank down in anticipated fear. It did not dissipate even as Blue smiled sadly. "My Zircon brought up very good points during the trial, things we had unfortunately never thought of. Rose Quartz was indeed recognized as a threat well before Pink died. She would not have stepped out of her palanquin to meet with a noted rebel... at least, I don't think she would have. I might be wrong. I have started to feel as if I did not know Pink as well as I thought I did."

Yellow glanced downwards. She had not realized Blue might be feeling this way.

Steven's expression was sad, his father's matching, though it appeared a bit darker. His son opened his mouth to speak but he reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder, quieting him. With a visible deep breath he shuffled forward a bit more, further into the circle of light casted by the flames in the middle. "Rose Quartz didn't like talking about her past," Greg began, tone careful. "Nothing from five thousand years ago, anyway. I know only _why_ the war started, how she felt about your authority and how you were treating gems beneath you. _I_ don't know what happened with Pink Diamond, either. But I do know that Rose wouldn't have hurt Pink Diamond unless she felt it was absolutely necessary, to allow her fellow people a chance to be themselves, or whoever they wanted to be."

"The role a gem has was put in place by the oldest Diamond," Yellow sighed, speaking quietly for fear that somehow, somewhere, that very Diamond would hear her even if she didn't mention her name. "The way I was trained when I first came into existence was to promote those roles, their purposes, with every fiber of my being. To be strict with it. Blue and I are closer in age... she was taught the same thing."

"White Diamond gave Pink Diamond Earth, didn't she?" Steven asked softly, and Yellow flinched; out of the corner of her eye she saw Blue glance over her shoulder, as if she too felt like the head Diamond might just appear out of the ocean and - well, neither of them really knew. It had been quite a long time since they saw White.

Maybe even close to the five thousand years it had been since the war ended.

"Yes," Blue whispered. "Yellow tried to fight it. I encouraged Pink to find her place in the Diamond authority. The only gem she really had to convince was White, and she convinced her alright. They were close. White has grieved even harder than I these past thousands of years."

"I truly do not know how she feels about the Earth at this point," Yellow muttered lowly. "She hardly speaks to us. When she does, it's never in person. It's hardly even over a screen. I haven't physically seen her in so long." Blue shook her head in agreement, picking at her clothes and glancing around subtly at all the gems and three humans around them. "It's all our faults, primarily. Rose Quartz might have committed the act of shattering Pink, but the three of us put her in the position to be harmed in the first place."

"How I wish just one of you knew exactly what happened," Blue sighed, her shoulders deflating with the strength of it. "We can't simply let this _go_. Pink meant so much to us. She was the last Diamond, now we're all practically... incomplete."

Steven looked to Garnet and the small Amethyst, who shrugged, the fusion not showing any change in demeanor, though Yellow thought she was at a complete loss for words. She turned to the Pearl, and the frazzled gem flinched badly as if knowing the attention had been thrown onto her. She began to quake, one hand clamped firmly over her mouth.

"My Diamond," Blue Pearl suddenly spoke up, her calm, low voice trembling with uncertainty. Beside her, the Yellow Pearl wore a terrified expression, her hands fisted in her hair as she looked back and forth from her two fellow gems - the first any one of them had looked in the other's direction as far as Yellow Diamond was aware. The Blue Pearl cleared her throat and pointed to the Pearl of the Crystal Gems. Her hand shook. "We know this Pearl. We're surprised you don't recognize her, but I suppose it is not so strange, since her appearance has changed over the centuries. Many believe she was Rose Quartz's personal Pearl; Rose held a good enough stature to be afforded a Pearl. She was well-respected as a military leader, as a soldier. She and Pink Diamond were close. However-"

"Shut your mouth!" Yellow Pearl hissed beside her. She too clamped her hands over her mouth, eyes snapping up in horrified fashion to the two Diamonds.

Yellow scowled and bent down a tiny bit to bring herself closer to her and Blue's Pearls. "Please, continue," she said - and she would order it if she had to, although she knew no matter how her Pearl felt about whatever it was Blue Pearl was saying, she would do as she was told.

Blue Pearl looked to Yellow Pearl, and they _both_ looked to the Pearl of the Crystal Gems. For a few moments the three of them all just stared at each other in silence, and the tension in the circle was palpable, the rest of the Crystal Gems - minus Garnet - appearing on edge and anxious. Even all of the two Diamonds' gems seemed to want to be literally anywhere else, to avoid potential wrath, Yellow guessed - she was no fool (at least not when it came to things like this), she could tell whatever the three Pearls knew was nothing particularly _good_. She almost felt as if she would rather not hear it at all, but this was what they came to Earth for. She and Blue would get the answers they wanted no matter what - unless it turned out nobody truly had them. Clearly, that was not the case. The Off Colors, too, became fidgety.

The Padparadscha Sapphire suddenly gasped, breaking through the silence. One hand came up to her wide mouth. "Blue Pearl is about to admit she and Yellow Pearl know Pink Pearl!" she said, tone cheery despite the resounding reactions of surprise around her; Yellow stiffened and Blue made a gasping sound of her own that sounded near enough to a sharp cry that the golden-skinned gem just about leapt to her feet, thinking she'd been hurt.

"Of course!" Blue half-whined. "You're _her_ Pearl!"

The Pearl's hand fell away from her mouth. She was no longer trembling, and her wide eyes held an ominous gravity. They flicked from Blue to Yellow and back again. "There are some things I would rather not talk about," she said lowly. "But... I suppose it's time to explain all of it. How Pink Diamond died and why Rose Quartz started her rebellion. And my role in everything." She looked to Steven, expression now sad, but not the least bit regretful. "I'm sorry, Steven. Greg. Amethyst, too. I should have been honest from the beginning."

"Does Garnet know about it?" the small Amethyst half-hissed.

"Bits and pieces," Garnet said quietly. "Someone else needed to know, just in case something happened to Pearl during the war."

Yellow Diamond nearly leapt to her feet again; remembering how much taller that would make her, she stayed seated on the sand. Her hands clenched into fists atop her legs and she glared down at the Crystal Gems. "You cannot keep us in this ridiculous suspense any longer! However you're involved in this - we just want to _know_. You needn't fear punishment if that is what is keeping you so _silent_!" she snapped viciously. This time, she hardly noticed Blue's hand resting on her thigh in a meek attempt at calming her.

The Pearl - _Pink's_ Pearl - huffed out a small sigh and stood. A beat after, Blue and Yellow Pearl followed suit, Yellow shrinking down in fear as her gaze ping-ponged from her Diamond to her fellow Pearls. Only Pink Pearl seemed remotely calm; Blue Pearl had started trembling ever so noticeably, the hair covering her eyes twitching.

"I am, in fact... Pink Diamond's Pearl," she began, standing up straight and tall, though her face was paler than it already usually was. "And I was a part of what happened that day."

* * *

 _A/N: My apologies in taking so long to update. I even missed the one year anniversary of when I first posted this story! ;A;_

 _I hope there's still interest in this. I've gotten a few messages about it, so if you're happy with this chapter or have any thoughts on it, please let me know! I have no regrets ending it with a cliffhanger lol. I'm going to be getting into some non-canon stuff for sure now, based on theories I've heard on tumblr and stuff I've thought of on my own. I will try my best to update sooner than last time. In the meantime, please keep reviewing, following and favoriting!_

 _And to those of you who have stayed with this story, thank you!_


	13. Part 13

"It was a little over five thousand years ago," Pink's former Pearl began, hands anxiously fluttering around her stomach. Otherwise she kept that calmer appearance she'd taken on. Yellow Diamond glanced furtively to Blue Diamond, wishing she knew just what the blue-skinned gem was thinking other than the shock of this discovery.

In fact, something in Blue's expression gave her pause, and she looked to her more closely; she seemed to be piecing everything together on her own already. Her hand still on Yellow's thigh squeezed a bit, fingers digging into the flesh in an opening in the armor.

The Pearl sighed and glanced downward for a second. "Pink Diamond was very close with one particular Rose Quartz soldier," she began again. "The Rose Quartz who would later start the rebellion. It started one day the same as any other... I was with Pink Diamond in her palanquin, we were moving through the Prime Kindergarten to check on the progress of gems as they already started to come up. Rose Quartz met us there. I was the only one who knew just how close they were... They tended to hide in plain sight, and Pink Diamond trusted me.

"That day, Rose dared to voice the feelings she later told me she'd been having for quite some time before that, but had been keeping to herself for fear of how her Diamond would react. She told Pink Diamond she thought there was something... _wrong_... about how Homeworld governed over us, how the Diamonds kept us all in our little boxes to serve the one purpose we came out of the ground with. They even kept themselves like that. She said she didn't have any problem with a gem doing what they were made for - but she believed any gem should have the capability to _change_ that, to grow out of those little boxes if they wanted to. To be more than just _one_ , pre-destined thing.

"Pink Diamond was silent for a little while after Rose expressed herself... I feared the worst for Rose, and even for their relationship. Then Pink Diamond - well she _agreed_ with Rose! She stood from her seat, took Rose's hands in hers, and looked at her with such an honest sentiment it startled me." Pearl paused to let out a reminiscent chuckle filled with too many emotions to really be pulled apart. She shook her head and rose a hand, propping her elbow on the other arm crossed over her waist, and covered a growing, crooked smirk with it. "From then on, they began to talk about how they could make the Earth colony the first colony of gems that could freely express themselves and exist however they wanted to. They didn't make any changes right away, for fear of either of you, or White Diamond, noticing and immediately shutting them down. I started to believe in it, myself, even before Pink Diamond started treating me differently, bit by bit... treating me less like a tool for opening doors and more like my own gem. A real individual - not replaceable when I 'stopped working'.

"Rose and I started talking much more than we had previously. We agreed on more things than she and Pink Diamond did, and I will admit she would at times grow frustrated with her and how... _childish_ she could be. Oh, but she loved Pink Diamond... and they already had a difficult situation between them. Pink Diamond loved Rose - in a way, I believe - but being with her could have been a rebellion in and of its own. Against White Diamond."  
She paused again and Blue once more felt Yellow's eyes on her. She was probably thinking the same thing. They all knew that as time went on and Pink was not only successful in getting the Earth to colonize, but was also making really good progress on it, White started taking a particular interest in her. And Pink always had been very... _affected_ by White. Blue hadn't been surprised when she found out the two of them had a relationship much like the one she was beginning to have with Yellow, though she would contest theirs was _quite_ different. It was more physical. Given time, Blue guessed they would have grown past that. As it was, they hadn't. And now that she thought back to it, White had been _very_ angry with Pink when the rebellion first started rolling. At the time Blue had assumed it was because White thought the youngest Diamond had somehow allowed it to happen in the first place. Now...

"As I grew closer to Rose, Pink Diamond... well, the best way to describe it, I suppose, is that she flew off the handle," the Pearl continued, amidst a heavy sigh. She sounded sad. "We hadn't been talking much more about our rebellion as Pink Diamond's responsibilities grew. She became stressed. Angry. To me, it seemed like the three of you-" she glanced pointedly between Blue and Yellow "-expected a bit too much from her. It was her first planet, first colony, first army - there should have been room for mistakes! I could tell she was under a lot of pressure, and it didn't particularly help that Rose started paying more attention to me as opposed to her... in turn, I believe that sent her farther into White Diamond's arms. It was numerous things that attributed to everything that happened - first, Rose and I growing closer. Then, the stress, the strain to make her first colony and all that as perfect as possible. Then getting closer and closer to White Diamond.

"But she still believed in what Rose had told her. In fact, she was becoming more and more radical about it. She wanted more of a rebellion than just teaching her own gems to believe they could do more than just what they're made for. She wanted to start a war... against the rest of the Diamonds. I'm not sure what started it. She had ceased to confide in me like she used to, and I do not even believe it was because Rose was focusing on me more.

"Her radical ideas frightened Rose. She didn't want to start an all out _war_. And this is almost all I can say... because Pink Diamond and Rose excluded me from the conversation that changed it all. The next thing I knew, Pink Diamond was entrusting me solely to Rose. She got a new Pearl without informing anyone so it seemed as if I was a rogue and had been 'entranced' by Rose Quartz's ideas. Rose then asked me if I would do whatever it took to liberate gems at whatever cost... and we were going to start with the only way she thought would get enough attention. With essentially declaring war. Our rebellion.

"So that's just what we did. I loved Rose - I will _always_ love Rose..." She paused again, glancing down to Steven frowning softly at her, to Greg beside him. "I did whatever she asked me to," she huffed, an odd cross between another sigh and a laugh. "I believed in what we were doing. I didn't particularly like the war part... and it didn't end very well, honestly... but at the beginning, it seemed like the right thing, if not the _only_ thing to do. We weren't trying to shatter numerous gems, just garner more of a following and make a loud point to Homeworld. Pink Diamond didn't fight us back very hard... and I think White Diamond noticed that.

"Pink Diamond sent us a message after the fighting had been going on for a couple hundred years... we'd gotten much more support from fellow gems. Our rebellion was growing. Rose assumed the message had to do with moving on to the next stage, away from the Earth, however much Rose wanted to stay here. She'd fallen in love with this planet, too. But Pink Diamond's message requested that I come back to her, only briefly. I did, and she explained that she was frightened by White Diamond, that she felt like White Diamond was meaning to do her harm - _great_ harm, worse than poofing. She meant _shattering_. Of course, I didn't want that. After everything that had happened, I was still her Pearl. I owed a great deal to her. I asked her how I could help, though part of me believed she was simply being paranoid. The stress had only worsened as the rebellion grew stronger, day by day, year by year, but I did believe that White Diamond was harassing her even more than before, about her responsibilities. I'm sure you two did as well, unknowingly...

"We concocted a plan. Just to be ready in case White Diamond showed up out of the blue. We brought Rose in on it. It would have worked, I still think that. In the ideal situation it would have ended the rebellion, and we would have won. We were going to come out and attack White Diamond when she came - we had Garnet's future vision to tell us when she would. We would make her lose her form and Pink Diamond would come out as a supporter for our cause. Then we would go back to Homeworld and try to solve the rest of it diplomatically, first with the two of you before bringing White Diamond out of her bubble."

Again she paused, and Blue could sense Yellow's vague ire at it, but for the most part they were both sitting silently. Most of the other gems appeared awkward in the single sweeping glance Blue had afforded them the moment the Pink Pearl started talking, and she assumed they still were unsure whether or not they were supposed to be hearing any of this. Blue herself wasn't sure she should be hearing it. A sick sensation had sprouted in her stomach and she felt dizzy, like her form would suddenly cease to seek gravity and she would float away into the dark nighttime sky. She glanced to Yellow, who hadn't moved a single muscle. Her face was thrown into shadows by the flickering fire and she was staring at the sand, brow pinched. The expression was one Blue recognized - it meant her fellow gem had a headache. She gave her leg another squeeze but the action went unnoticed just as it had been all night.

Blue let out a whisper of a sigh and averted her gaze. She hadn't thought prior to this that understanding what happened to Pink might affect her and Yellow's relationship... and certainly, by the looks of it, both their relationships to White.

"Instead," the Pink Pearl began again, shaking her head slightly, "a scenario too unlikely for Garnet's future vision to predict happened. I was masquerading as Pink Diamond's Pearl again, to calm her anxieties and paranoia. Not to say it worked. That day, we had scheduled for a mock attack on the gems around Pink Diamond's palanquin at whatever spot she chose to rest at. At most we planned on making half a dozen gems lose their form without, of course, taking their gems with us. We were just slightly separated from the rest of Pink Diamond's entourage - her Agates and Sapphires, her guards - when we were asked to stop. And Pink Diamond was asked to step outside.

"I still think about that voice, on occasion," the Pearl said softly, a vague shudder coursing through her thin frame. Blue glanced in the direction of her and Yellow's Pearls; they were listening with somber expressions. "It was the first time I ever heard White Diamond speak... and the last. Of course, I didn't recognize her when she spoke, I could only assume it was her based on the terrified expression Pink Diamond wore when she commanded me to stop the palanquin. She stepped outside... and that was the last I ever saw of her. I heard the commotion but stayed inside as she had ordered me before leaving, and finally, when I could take no more and peeked, I saw Rose, standing over a pile of pink gem shards... She looked shocked. Terrified. Angry. I almost ran to her but she caught my eye and made a motion for me to stay where I was. The other gems in the entourage had noticed her at the least, and I'm not sure what any of them saw, but she clearly _looked_ the guiltiest, with her sword and shield in hand standing a few mere inches from where those pink shards lay.

"It wasn't difficult to put two and two together. With that being said, I cannot believe that Rose shattered Pink Diamond... and if she did, I'd like to think it was because she was protecting her from a worse fate. The fate of corruption. That had at least been Pink Diamond's last fear, since as far as any gem knows, corruption cannot be healed. It was still new technology or a new power of the Diamonds at that point, no one knew how it was supposed to really work. Shattering is... better than losing yourself into the body of a senseless beast."

The Pearl glanced around at the congregation of gems around the fire, which had dropped in its height quite quickly as she spoke and neither Steven nor his human friend Connie had bothered to feed it. She met the gaze of the fusion first - she even lost her sunglasses to reveal three teary eyes - then the small Amethyst, Greg, and Steven and Connie. She even glanced swiftly to the Peridot and Lapis Lazuli, though Blue got the feeling they had not been through as much together as those three gems and Steven had. And maybe even his father. He placed a hand on the Pearl's shoulder and she rested her hand over it. Blue looked to Yellow and finally got her attention; they shared a lingering glance but Blue couldn't tell, no matter how hard she tried, what Yellow was thinking. Her face was the stoic mask of a general. _No, no_ , Blue thought, slipping into the very beginnings of a panic, _please don't shut me out again, Yellow... please. Not now, that we've got this far, that we're so close to the truth_...

"After that," Pink Pearl huffed, sitting back down on the sand, "Rose Quartz was recognized as the most dangerous threat to the Diamonds and labeled as a war criminal on multiple levels. We were unable to further the rebellion from Earth - we would have needed Pink Diamond's support to do that. The Gem War began and finally we were able to win, in a way. My guess is you Diamonds called all your soldiers to leave the planet as quickly as possible, but you didn't care if some didn't get out in time and you used your new powers of corruption. If it weren't for Rose, Garnet and I would be corrupted. Rose, too. And five thousand years down the line Steven wouldn't have been here to make friends with Peridot in time to stop the Cluster from emerging. And now, aside from _this_ , the Earth is... safe."

Blue frowned at the way the Pearl gestured to herself and Yellow and their own gems, still sitting so separated from the gaggle of gems from the zoo, the Off Colors, and the Crystal Gems. It pained her a little to see the divide between them - she wouldn't have thought this five thousand years ago, but now it just seemed so foolish to continue this fight.

"Well," she sighed, seeming to startle the Pearl a bit. "Thank you, for telling us everything you know. On Yellow's and my behalf, I'd like you to know that we deeply appreciate that you told us anything at all. We understand we are more your enemy still than anything, and yet you've opened up to us, you've allowed us to stay here on this... well, this lovely planet." She looked up at the night sky again and felt a soft smile spread across her face. "I still thought so, even after Pink was shattered," she said softly. "It's a very unique place. I suppose... it is not so difficult to say Rose Quartz's attachment, and Pink's, wasn't as misguided as we thought... or liked to think." Laughing a little, she withdrew her hand from Yellow's leg and placed both in her own lap. "I only wish your tale had a clearer ending."

The Pearl ducked her head and the fusion rested a hand on her shoulder, glasses shining back into place over her eyes. The small Amethyst heaved a sigh that Blue saw more than heard and she leaned on the Pearl. On the other hand, Steven was staring down at the sand, unmoving, even when Connie whispered something to him and his dad sat down beside him.

Yellow crossed her arms over her chest and the movement - her first one in a decent while - caught Blue's attention. She arched an eyebrow at her fellow Diamond. For a good while longer Yellow just stayed silent; then she let out a bitter laugh and turned to Blue with a disquieting smirk. "You know what this means, don't you?" she said, voice on the edge of a growl and another laugh. "Your Zircon came to the same conclusion during the trial, though of course she didn't think to include _White_ in her carried away accusation."

"M-my Diamonds, I really didn't mean-" the Blue Zircon hurried to say, but Yellow silenced her by simply holding up a hand for a moment.

"What are you saying, Yellow?" Blue murmured. She knew. Oh, of course she knew. But the only way it was going to sink in was for her to hear someone else say it, and Yellow seemed just _bursting_ to get it out. After thousands of years of holding in her emotions, she probably had enough, finally, and for that Blue was mostly grateful... but she dreaded the words she knew was to come, dreaded the way Yellow's smirk grew in its nastiness and tears sprouted in her eyes, so unnatural in the overall picture of her face.

Yellow let out a little huff of breath. Her shoulders quivered. "Regardless of whether or not it was truly White who shattered Pink, she clearly meant Pink _harm_. She got her to step out of her palanquin, and she either shattered her and framed Rose Quartz, somehow knowing she was in the vicinity for that fake attack and would show up just in time for White to vanish, leaving Pink's shards at Rose's feet... or she threatened to corrupt Pink, and Rose Quartz saw it more humane... to shatter her."

* * *

 _A/N: So this was more explaining my take on what happened to Pink Diamond/Pearl's involvement in it, but I'll be getting back to focusing more on Yellow and Blue's relationship in the next chapter. Hope you guys liked my little theory - it's a big melding pot of things I've seen on tumblr mixed in with my own ideas. I'm not sure if anything like this has been put out there before, but just so y'all know, I DID NOT mean to take anyone's theory!_

 _Please keep reviewing, following and favoriting! Till next time._


	14. Part 14

It angered Yellow Diamond, more than it should have, to witness the beauty of the planet Earth all for herself. The way the rising sun painted the sky different colors, and the higher it hiked, the more the water of the ocean sparkled. From where she stood close to the primitive _lighthouse_ atop the high hill behind the Crystal Gems' base, she could see so much of it. See the rest of the "town" the Crystal Gems lived in, where the humans stayed. She scowled down at it, unable to fully reconcile the sight within herself.

It made no sense.

None of it did. Not this... _organic life_ , or the information she and Blue Diamond were given by Pink Diamond's former Pearl. How could it be, that the oldest of them, the strongest of them, _White Diamond_ herself, was to blame? Oh, and Yellow wouldn't kid herself. Even if White hadn't actually shattered Pink on her own, she had scared her into thinking they would use their powers of corruption on _her_ , leading her to express those sentiments to her Pearl, to Rose Quartz, and ultimately Rose Quartz had decided it would be better for her to cease existence than to - how did the Pearl put it? "Lose herself in the body of a senseless beast"?

Yellow brought a hand up to cover her eyes, feeling every part of her body tense.

This wasn't even her only problem.

Yes, of course it was her _biggest_ problem, and she and Blue had to confront White about it. But how could they do that if they no longer had a ship, no way to get off this - this _cursed_ planet? _At least the Cluster won't be emerging after all_ , she thought, sneering to herself. That took out the imminent danger of being shattered by the forming of a gem billions of times her size and the size of the Earth. And who's idea had _that_ been?

...Well, hers.

She remembered it all too well, the feelings of anger and hatred. All she and Blue had been told was that Pink was gone. No specifics, though she supposed being aware that Rose Quartz had been the culprit was something. But, knowing what she knew now... The anger was still there. This time, it was simply directed elsewhere. And the pain she wanted to project. Deep down she knew she couldn't blame the Crystal Gems for this, not even Pink's Pearl. How much had they _really_ known? She had thought, watching all of them comforting the Pearl in the wake of her tale, that they were all aware of what she had said. Save for Steven. But once she had ordered her gems to assist in patching up the unintentional damage she'd done to their base and they had finished, leaving them and the Off Colors to go inside (Steven had, in the meantime, showed her and Blue that they could stay up on the hill) it was the Pearl, the fusion Garnet, and the defective Amethyst who remained on the beach by the remnants of the fire.

She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but it was a tad difficult when Steven joined them and the Amethyst ultimately raised her voice in her confusion, and then Garnet had fallen apart. Unfused. Yellow had glanced to Blue at the time and saw the quiet recognition play across her face seeing the two gems she was comprised of. The Sapphire had rushed into the base, leaving Pink Pearl, the Amethyst, Steven and the Ruby alone on the beach.

Yellow let out a short sigh, just about the only relief she figured she was going to feel when it came to the tension rippling through her body. She closed her eyes against the assaulting brightness of the sun reflecting off the water as it climbed higher.

They couldn't wait any longer.

She turned, lowering her arms from their crossed position over her chest and gem. Behind her Blue was lying down on her back, hands neatly placed on her stomach, staring up at the sky with an unreadable expression. Their gems, aside from their Pearls, were in the lighthouse for the time being. Yellow knew it would probably be best if they stayed in there for a little while longer. She took the few steps that brought her to Blue's side and hesitated, wanting to simply say what she wanted to so they could go _do_ it. Instead she wrinkled her nose, looking out at the town again, and lowered herself down to lie beside her fellow Diamond.

The silence ate at her because it wasn't _complete_. On Homeworld, if she wanted it quiet, it was _quiet_. Nothing could interrupt it until she said it could. Here on Earth there was so much organic life singing in the morning, making all sorts of noises and she couldn't even begin to deduce what sound belonged to what creature. Then there were the human noises. Those she was even more clueless over. But each one reached her ears seemingly no matter what, jabbing at the headache she'd had since the night before. Looking up at the sun wasn't quite helping but she felt vulnerable when she closed her eyes... even lying beside Blue, she felt constantly on-edge, threatened, even.

It made her fidgety at best, hostile at worst.

"Yellow," Blue said softly.

Pursing her lips briefly, Yellow took a breath. _Why the nervousness?_ "Yes, Blue?"

"We must get back to Homeworld."

"I know."

"We must talk to White."

"I know."

Blue rolled onto her side, propping her head up on a hand, and Yellow looked to her. She swallowed, mouth suddenly dry and throat scratchy. "But what about Steven?" the blue-skinned gem sighed. "I don't want to leave him here. Already there's no telling if White has discovered where we've gone or not; if she knows, she'll be coming here. To attack him."

Yellow curled her lip up in a vicious sneer. "Who knows what White would do. Perhaps she'll come and shatter us, too."

"Oh, Yellow," Blue sighed, tone hinting towards the urge to sob, and Yellow glanced away in shame. And regret. "Please, don't say that. We don't know if White was responsible. For all we know it was still Rose Quartz, but it doesn't matter, because she and Steven are not one in the same no matter what we may believe-"

"White was responsible either way," Yellow spat. "If she didn't shatter Pink herself, she frightened her into a state of paranoia so bad that Rose Quartz wanted to relieve her of it."

Blue averted her eyes and blinked away tears. "We just don't have all the answers," she whispered, lying back down.

Yellow wished she would lie her head on her chest, but swallowed the request even as it danced on the very tip of her tongue. "And we can get those answers, one way or another. For now that means we work with Steven and the Crystal Gems. We have no way off the planet and we need to be on Homeworld to confront White."

For a moment Blue just stared at her, long enough for her to feel heat rising in her cheeks, and she almost snapped at her fellow Diamond to get her to do something, anything. Then Blue smiled. "You continue to surprise me, you know," she chuckled halfheartedly. "At each and every turn, you've done the opposite of what I expect you to do. Why is that? What's changed in these thousands of years?" She propped herself up again, leveling herself into a perfect position to really look Yellow in the eyes. The directness made Yellow even more nervous than she already was simply being in the blue-skinned gem's presence. She swallowed again but it did little for her. "I know you're still angry," Blue whispered. "I can see it in your eyes. It is as natural as the shape of your pupils; it doesn't change." The smile returned, this time arguably _hesitant_. "But now it has."

"I am no longer angry at Rose Quartz, or her group of rebels," Yellow said lowly. "I am angry at White. She's been lying to us this entire time." Propping herself up on her elbows - and unintentionally bringing their faces _much_ closer - she met Blue's gaze with every part of herself. "I will not let her put us through this. Something is _wrong_. I can feel it, and I would... well, I would rather do without it. We've been through enough already, we've felt enough _pain_."

"Oh, Yellow," Blue sighed again. And she kissed her.

It was surprising, to the yellow-skinned gem, to feel Blue's lips pressed feather-light to her own after everything they'd gone through so far. The kiss only lasted a moment and she was left utterly winded. Blue stood, brushing off her skirts, and held a hand out to help her up. They stood together and she looked out across the ocean with a small smile on her face.

Yellow thought she had never before looked more beautiful than she did in that moment. And yet it was really no different than other moments they'd shared; perhaps she was just being less of an idiot than usual.

Blue turned back to her. "I'll let you take the lead, for now. So-" she placed a hand on Yellow's chest, right beside her gem "-what do we do?"

"We start with finding a way off this planet," Yellow huffed. "Come. I believe we'll have to shrink ourselves in order to fit inside their base."

They did so simultaneously, compressing their forms into something a bit more manageable, though Yellow had never before thought that she would ever lower herself to this level. Literally. It was a world's difference being so drastically _shorter_ , and overall _smaller_. She glanced down at herself, appearance slightly altered for the occasion. The armor had been replaced by simple fabric. Even Blue was wearing a casual _dress_ as opposed to her usual robes.

Yellow beckoned their Pearls after them, frowning down at her own briefly and marveling at the change in perspective yet again. She was still taller by a few feet but she could hardly remember the last time she saw her Pearl so _closely_. Shaking it off she headed down the hill, rounding the cliff wall at the bottom to continue along just the beach, not the beach and some of the human installments in the other direction which she could see much more clearly now that she wasn't distracted and had also memorized every detail of the "town" during her sleepless night. She stomped up the steps to the front door of the Crystal Gems' base and entered without knocking and waiting for permission - habit, mostly, and she flushed at the low chuckle of _chiding_ amusement Blue let out as they stopped just in the entryway.

Pink Pearl and the Amethyst were seated at a couch to their left, while Steven was tinkering around in another section of the room to their right. Up another, shorter flight of stairs on a loft the Ruby was lying atop a bed and staring forlornly at the ceiling. She started at their (Yellow's) abrupt entrance and immediately leaped down onto the couch with her fellow Crystal Gems, hands clenched into fists at the ready. And yet she didn't look aggressive in the slightest, only anxious, tired, and... lonely.

"Oh, wow!" Steven said, dashing up to them - much closer than Yellow had assumed he would dare approach. Talk of surprises; this half-human, half-gem _hybrid_ was keeping her more on her toes than she believed she was keeping Blue on hers. "You guys got so much smaller! Thanks, though, I - I don't think you would have fit in here otherwise," he added with a laugh.

"You're welcome, Steven," Blue said kindly.

Glancing around the room, Yellow noted a few things were missing. Namely... "Where is the rest of your army?" she asked, clasping her hands behind her back and straightening her posture, shoulders jerking back even further. "Your human friend, the Sapphire, the Lapis Lazuli, the traitorous Peridot, and those - _Off Colors_. I would like you all here."

"Well, uh," Steven said carefully, looking to the three gems on the couch, "we're really the heart of the Crystal Gems. Minus, of course, Sapphire... But we can tell Connie, Lapis and Peridot about this later. As for the Off Colors, they don't know if they want to be Crystal Gems yet, too. They're resting inside the Temple right now." He moved over to the couch and sat down, shooting the Ruby a smile and urging her to step off the cushions and sit down on the floor with the small Amethyst, the both of them frowning. Only Pink Pearl looked as confident as Steven, though not at all as at ease. "Sit down with us," he offered, patting the cushion beside him. The smile turned into a grin.

Yellow hesitated - she may be out of her armor, but that didn't make this meeting any less _formal_ \- and in the meantime Blue chuckled again and glided over, sitting beside Steven primly. She shot Yellow this _look_ that had her flushing and feeling rather foolish. Stomping over, she sat beside her fellow Diamond, allowing their Pearls room to sit on the floor and finish the circle around the small table in front of the couch.

"Where is your Sapphire?" Yellow demanded.

"Why did you two unfuse?" Blue asked the Ruby softly. "Forgive us, but we couldn't help witnessing your... fight... from afar. I do hope it wasn't because of Yellow and myself. Yes, we are _unused_ to fusion between two different gems, but we're both willing to put that aside."

The Ruby glanced awkwardly to Pink Pearl, expression a clear plea for help. Pink Pearl could only offer a similarly awkward shrug. "I, uh," Ruby stammered, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sapphire... she used the warp pad and went somewhere. I'm not really sure, uh, where. It's different, being separated... now I don't have future vision so I couldn't really begin to tell you where _exactly_ she is. I know there are various possibilities but it - it would take us forever to narrow it all down!" She bowed her head sadly. "I just wish she'd come back..."

Yellow opened her mouth, ready to move on and make do with what she had, but Blue leaned forward and spoke before she could. "I'm sure whatever Yellow has planned can wait until she comes back," she said, tone still soft in the way Yellow always admired, but in this moment it was honestly stressing her out. "We can even help you find her, if you'd like."

"O-oh," Ruby squeaked, picking her eyes up from the floor. "I - n-no, uh, Blue Diamond, I wouldn't want to bother you with-"

"Nonsense," Blue interrupted. She turned to her fellow Diamond. "Right, Yellow?"

Scowling, Yellow scoffed. "Well, I know how much you'd like to play _extra_ nice... If helping them find the Sapphire is what you wish to do, then so be it. Let's find her."

"Really?" Steven said, beaming.

Blue smiled back. "Where might she have gone?"

* * *

"This is where we landed, when we fled from-..." The Ruby cut herself off, glancing awkwardly to Blue Diamond. "I mean... this is just the first place I thought Sapphire might go. There's a small cave not too far from here, and if she isn't there, she could be in the forest. Uh, should we split up to cover more ground?"

"Oh! I want to pick teams!" Steven said, scurrying around to the front of their group standing a few paces away from the warp pad.

Pink's former Pearl sighed, but she smiled. It had a tired quality to it, Yellow Diamond thought, and she couldn't really blame her for that. "There aren't any teams, Steven," she said. "This isn't like when we played baseball with all those other Rubies."

"I know, but I thought it'd be cool to mix things up." Steven smiled around at all of them and Yellow crossed her arms over her chest, trying not to feel quite as... _insecure_ as she felt. It was about as bothersome as most of the aspects of this planet. "Well, there's eight of us, so we can split into groups of four! How about... Ruby and I will go with the Diamonds, and Amethyst, you can go with Pearl and the other Pearls!"

The small Amethyst rose her shoulders up to her ears and didn't lower them. "I don't know if that's a very good idea, Steven," she hissed. She looked uncomfortable - then again, so did all three Pearls and the Ruby.

"Yes, it isn't exactly... common... for Diamonds to go without their Pearls," Pink Pearl whispered. As if two Diamonds couldn't hear her regardless. Yellow arched an eyebrow down at her and she flushed a little, averting her gaze solely onto Steven. "Why don't the four of us stay a group, and the Diamonds and their Pearls can be the other one?"

"No, we should mix stuff up!" Steven said, a bit of a whine entering his tone.

"You sound like Pink, almost," Yellow half-growled, half-huffed. "Pearl, go with your fellow gems and the Amethyst."

"But, My Diamond-" Yellow Pearl hastened to say, and Yellow held up a hand.

"No need to worry about either of us. I do not believe Steven has any ill-will for us, and this Ruby does not seem... _energetic_ enough to break this truce we have." She glanced down at the small red-skinned gem in question and arched an eyebrow. "Your worry for this Sapphire is... cute," she drawled.

A spark entered Ruby's eyes and her brows furrowed. "Thanks," she growled sharply.

"I should only hope that once we find her you will find the motivation to act as you are supposed to," Yellow added, and she almost flinched, certainly feeling a slight chill at the look Blue sent her. She cleared her throat. "My apologies. I forgot just who I am speaking to."

"That's alright, Yellow Diamond," Steven said. "Old habits die hard, right?"

Yellow glanced around at the gems surrounding her, even Blue, though only out of the corner of her eye so as to avoid a full blast of chilliness. "Indeed," she huffed.

She allowed Steven and the Ruby to take the lead, going in one direction across the open landscape of grass and more grass while the three Pearls and the Amethyst set off in another. _Well, this is different_ , she thought. Not being in charge... she felt it might not suit her. It was all too easy for her to slip into the role she had played for so long, she knew she was going to do it again regardless of however many _looks_ Blue sent her way in an attempt at silently reminding her just where they were and who they were with. In all honesty she was waiting for _Blue_ to forget herself; certainly she _would_. Just because they had met and sat down to talk to the Crystal Gems that didn't mean either of them were going to just take on their dogma and break free of the "little boxes" Pink's former Pearl had spoken of.

A tree line soon came into sight, and the Ruby led the way like she had walked this invisible path every day of her existence. Not too far in at all they approached the base of a mountain. "Sapphire!" Ruby called, cupping her hands around her mouth. " _Sapphire_! Please, I just - can we just _talk_?"

"Sapphire!" Steven called. "I'm here too! We're with the Diamonds!"

"Steven!" Ruby hissed, whirling on him with a look of panic.

"Leave me alone, Ruby," a voice shouted back from somewhere nearby. The Ruby jumped slightly and quickly ignored the request, dashing off towards the source of the voice. Yellow drew to a halt, knowing they were not wanted there. This was why she didn't want to come - not because she wasn't feeling _helpful_.

Steven glanced from her to Blue, bent over a bush a few feet away, then whipped around to look off into the trees where the Ruby had vanished. "Um, Ruby? Sapphire? ...If you want us to leave you alone, just say so!" he called.

"There are so many different _smells_ on this planet," Blue murmured, straightening. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes.

"They shouldn't be here, Steven."

Yellow blinked down at the small form lingering in some shadows at the base of the mountain. The Ruby burst back out of the trees some paces away. The Sapphire stepped forward, mouth set in a grim, downward tilt, her one eye obscured by her light blue hair. Still, Yellow could practically feel the confusion, betrayal and frustration just _wafting_ off her; she shuffled backwards in a placating sort of gesture, ready to turn around and drag Blue along with her back the way they'd come to find the Pearls and the Amethyst and tell them they'd found the Sapphire, even if she wasn't quite ready to return to the base with them.

She should have expected Blue to take a strong step _forward_ , a small smile on her face that seemed to agitate the Sapphire further. "Hello," she said, calm as ever. "I'd really love to talk to you, Sapphire."

"And if I don't want to talk to you?" Sapphire retorted lowly.

The Ruby glanced anxiously between them before hurrying over to Steven's side. Yellow bit her tongue to stop a sigh from coming out.

Blue's smile grew slightly. She glanced up at the leaves above them. "I knew this place looked familiar," she murmured. "I spent a good while looking down at it from above. It's... so different than what I could see, so far removed." She paused and her smile faltered with an emotion Yellow didn't quite expect - regret. Looking down to the Sapphire, she took another step forward (and clearly increased the anxiety of Steven and the Ruby, and even Yellow's). "If you would at least _listen_ to me, Sapphire," Blue said softly. "I want to talk about the day you first fused with this Ruby over here."

* * *

 _A/N: Happy eve of new episodes! Who else is ready for the Heart of the Crystal Gems arc?!_

 _So obviously we know now the truth about Rose and Pink Diamond... but that isn't going to stop me from exploring this idea of mine. I was a bit bummed about the ( ***spoiler*** ) reveal that Pink Diamond was Rose Quartz, not because I don't like it, but I was really looking forward to somehow interacting with Pink. I want to see so much more of her, and while I'm sure we still will, it's... different. Idk. Hence why I'm not bothering to change anything lol._

 _Sorry, also, for the months it's been since the last update. I just wasn't feeling terribly inspired. However, with the excitement of the coming episodes and the fact that I've been re-watching a lot of the show, I got HELLA inspired! I'm so interested in the Diamonds. I want to know more about them. Even more so, I'm excited to just write about them myself._

 _One last thing I'd like to add: tumblr user happyds has a lot of wonderful SU art, so go check that out (they're mostly posting on their Twitter now and you can find those links on their tumblr) but they have these drawings of BD and YD if they had also gone through a bratty phase like the way PD seems to have acted. So for the part where the Diamonds shrink down, I was honestly thinking of the way happyds drew them for that lol. So go check that art out!_

 _Thanks for sticking with me~ Also, special shout-out to OmegaInfinity and guest Shippingmonster for your reviews! Much love to you._


	15. Part 15

"And _why_ would you want to talk about that?" the Sapphire snapped back, voice turning shrill with the threat of tears, a sound Blue Diamond was all too used to. Her hands clutched her skirts like she was ready to flee again. "Do you just want to threaten to shatter us for fusing, like you did then?" She whipped around to face the Ruby, and she flinched. "Don't you _see_ , Ruby? Rose... Rose kept so many secrets from us, and we didn't even know it! _I_ didn't even think, for a _second_... I didn't look into her! Not once! So how - how are we supposed to know if she was honest with _us_?"

"S-Sapphire," the Ruby whimpered, reaching towards her.

"She held our hands, looked us in the eyes, and told us to never question ourselves!" the Sapphire went on as if she hadn't even heard her. "But now... Ruby, what if she was just _using_ us? Using _Garnet_? All this betrayal, all the lies..."

"Sapphire, it - it wasn't like that," Steven attempted, shifting forward so he was almost directly in between the two small gems.

"You don't know what it was like _at all_ , Steven!" Sapphire cried. "You _weren't there_!"

He flinched, a clear hurt flashing across his face, and Blue took another resolute step forward. _I should help settle this_ , she thought, ignoring the hesitant question Yellow Diamond was staring at her with, silently exuding uncertainty bordering on the line of anxiety. The Sapphire whirled back around to face Blue and a tear slipped past the cover of her bangs across her all-seeing eye, following the curve of her upper lip to drip off her chin. Blue smiled softly, sympathetically, and knelt down onto her knees.

"Sapphire," she began gently, "I've had thousands of years to think about that day. To reevaluate many of my previous ideals. I know you must be hesitant to believe me. After all, to you, it may seem more like I've changed overnight. But I assure you that I have put a lot of _thought_ into the past." She paused, feeling Yellow drift a tiny bit closer like a protective force, lingering. After a second her fellow Diamond placed a hand on her shoulder and she instantly reached up to rest her own hand over it. She felt a smile tug at her lips almost of its own accord and she let out a quiet, blissful sigh. "I could feel the aura of love you two embodied," she said. Ruby's eyebrow quirked up in surprise and she glanced swiftly to Sapphire, still appearing emotionless other than the tear track. "I've come to realize that... I would like to experience a love like that. And who am I to restrict my gems from experiencing it as well? Be it with fusion or... perhaps a bit like something Yellow and I have."

Behind her, she felt more than saw Yellow stiffen and guessed she was flushing.

"I have made many a rash decision in my existence," Blue huffed bitterly. "Yellow and I both. Well, all of us, certainly, as evidenced by your Pearl. And I would like to apologize. I cannot take back my actions from that day, but at least now I can tell you... the two of you are millennia ahead of the rest of us. Considering fusion as something other than a war tactic... it's practically revolutionary. I have no words for it, honestly. Other than thanking you both, as well, for ultimately opening my eyes."

She could still feel a good deal of hostility wafting from the Sapphire, but she wouldn't say she was surprised. In fact, she really didn't think much of what she said was going to solve the smaller gem's peril so easily. Sapphire turned back to Ruby and Steven, both of them looking a bit hopeful, though Blue noticed the Ruby's eyes flicking back and forth from Sapphire to her with a distinct weariness. Her hands flitted up near her chest and she shuffled forward.

"Sapphire..." she half-sighed, "I know it's really... hard... to think about all this. But we didn't _know_! And, yeah, we trusted Rose with our lives. Nobody - _I_ don't blame you for not looking into her. There was really no reason to."

"But maybe if I'd _looked_ , we could have avoided _going to war_ ," Sapphire retorted, voice shaky with emotion. "All the gems who were shattered... _corrupted_... Pink Diamond was right to be so afraid of White Diamond and that power. I've never seen anything more devastating."

Behind her, Blue felt Yellow flinch slightly, and she squeezed her fellow Diamond's hand. It was hard to reconcile, certainly, that their final attack on the Earth had been so pointless and cruel. Even at the time Blue had second-guessed their actions; they knew shortly after the attack that not all their gems had made it off planet (White had dismissed it saying they could simply get more) and she'd seen what corruption did. It was a punishment a step above shattering and she could honestly only think of _one_ other instance wherein the three of them used it. Never did they use it when Pink came into existence, partially because White hadn't been sure she'd be strong enough to make any sort of _addition_. Not that she'd ever told the youngest Diamond that herself, only spoke it behind her back - but, more than anything, Blue could hardly even _fathom_ why White would want to subject a fellow _Diamond_ to such a fate.

Because, as it was with a good deal of their powers, emotions played a strong role in using them. To corrupt a gem all three of them were required to feel such a raw hatred it frightened Blue, partially to think any of them could actually _feel_ that way. Well, corrupting every gem on Earth had been easy, if she was being honest with herself - she hated what had happened to Pink and she hated the planet she had wanted so desperately, to further along her path to becoming a Diamond just like the rest of them. But if White had really wanted to corrupt Pink, or even just threatened it...

 _Surely White didn't_ hate _Pink_ , Blue told herself. Her chest clenched with despair.

"Sapphire-" Ruby tried again, jarring Blue from her thoughts, but Sapphire shook her head and took a few steps back.

"I... I just need a little time, Ruby," she practically whispered.

"Hey-yo!"

Blue stood and turned, keeping her hand on Yellow's still resting on her shoulder. The Amethyst and three Pearls appeared from the undergrowth a little ways back; Blue almost chuckled at the anxious-turning-relieved expressions her and Yellow's Pearls were wearing. They scurried to their Diamonds' sides immediately while Pink Pearl and Amethyst approached a decent bit more wearily, eyeing the Diamonds first, then the rest of their team.

"Hey, you guys, uh... okay?" Amethyst asked.

"Perhaps we should leave the four of you to speak," Yellow said, already pulling on Blue's shoulder. "After all, we've intruded enough. Please, Blue."

"Alright," Blue sighed. "We'll be waiting by the warp pad, then."

"Blue Diamond."

She turned back around, an eyebrow raised, and met the one-eyed gaze of the Sapphire as she scowled up at her, bangs brushed out of the way. Yellow gave her shoulder another tug and she pushed her hand away. "Yes?" she said, drifting closer again.

Glancing away momentarily, Sapphire huffed out a sigh. "If you've really changed so much... I think I'd like to see it," she said lowly. "Especially if the two of you are going to be trapped here on Earth for a little while longer."

Blue smiled. "I would be happy to speak to you again, Sapphire."

Nodding, Sapphire turned to her friends, and Blue took that as their official cue to give the Crystal Gems their space. She followed Yellow back the way they'd come, their Pearls dutifully walking behind them, hands clasped at their chests. It was almost strange to see - such an obvious contrast between them and their fellow Pearl, long since broken from her mold. _How do they feel about her?_ Blue wondered. _Do they still see her as a traitor? Or... were they close, once? Certainly, with all the time they spent together..._

"'Opening your eyes'," Yellow grumbled under her breath, breaking the incomplete silence of the forest around them as they tromped back to the field that held the warp pad. She glanced back over her shoulder, eyes narrowed in a glare and thick scowl. "Honestly, Blue," she half-snapped. "You needn't lie to any of them. We're stuck here with them, this is no time to be making enemies anew."

"Excuse me?" Blue unintentionally spat. She walked faster to whirl around Yellow and stand in front of her, effectively forcing her to a halt. "You think I was lying?"

Yellow grimaced slightly. "Fusion is not... like what we have," she huffed quietly.

"How could you be so _thick-skulled_?" Blue snapped, and Yellow's eyelid twitched, as much of a wince as she would allow herself in the face of her fellow Diamond. "Yellow. You cannot be serious. Fusion is a bond stronger than most _anything_ between gems, and you saw theirs - she's been together for thousands of years! Do you honestly think you could manage that yourself without what they have? Even as a Diamond?"

"We don't understand just how fusion works between two or more different gems," Yellow said - an awfully clinical answer, if anything. Blue scoffed and turned away. "We don't really have any idea what it was keeping those two together-"

"You are so daft," Blue snarled. "Steven told me. He said their fusion embodies their love for each other. Are you really that afraid of intimacy?"

"I am _not_ -"

"Then fuse with me," Blue interrupted, offering a hand to her fellow Diamond.

Yellow's whole body stiffened, eyes flashing open wide. A splutter of incoherent words erupted from her lips. Behind her Blue noticed their Pearls were standing utterly still aside from a quick exchanged glance (though it was only Yellow Pearl's eyes that showed) and a shared air of something Blue would describe as near panic. Of course this was unheard of, she knew that. Regardless, she trusted their Pearls and knew it would only take a few words to ensure they keep this a secret for as long as it need be one.

"Pearl," she said.

"Yes, My Diamond?" Blue Pearl practically gasped.

"This conversation Yellow and I are having, and any attempts at fusion we may make, you are not allowed to say a word of this to another gem unless I tell you so. Understood?"

"Of course, My Diamond," Blue Pearl said with a curtsy.

"Yellow?" Blue prompted.

Her fellow Diamond was blushing fiercely, mouth gaping open. She turned on the Pearls so quickly they both jumped. "Pearl, you mustn't speak a word of this unless I say so, either. Take Blue's command as if I gave it to you," she snapped. Her voice shook. It was honestly rather cute, and Blue giggled behind a hand over her mouth. That earned her a flustered glare.

"Yes, My Diamond," Yellow Pearl said with a salute.

Grimacing again, Yellow faced Blue and stared down at her hand still offered to her, palm facing the clear blue sky they could see dappled between the leaves. She didn't move for a few full minutes, but finally she reached up with a trembling hand and took Blue's. The blue-skinned gem immediately pulled her in close, pressing their bodies flush together and placing her other hand on Yellow's hip after guiding hers to her shoulder once more. They swayed gently to the sound of a light breeze rippling through the trees, Earth creatures fluttering and scampering about. After a couple moments Yellow genuinely seemed to relax. She cleared her throat and leaned in closer, shutting her eyes and pressing her forehead to Blue's.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Blue giggled, so softly Yellow was sure their Pearls didn't hear her.

"...Yes," she admitted.

"Those two, staying fused for so long... they've found a strength in each other, you know," Blue whispered. "A strength no singular gem could have, I'm sure."

Yellow scowled.

"The force of the love they must feel is amazing... and, honestly, who are we to dictate who our gems love? If we are free to do it, why can't they be?"

"What do you think White would say, if she saw us?" Yellow huffed. "Even if she didn't literally watch us fuse - or attempt to - I'm fairly sure she would have something to say about our... relationship. How we feel for each other."

"Oh, I'm sure she's aware of it," Blue laughed airily. "After all, we've been dancing around each other for thousands of years... after Pink's shattering, we drifted apart... I have so loved these past couple hundred years. You came back to me, Yellow. I missed you so much... almost as much as I miss Pink. I do not wish to be so far from you ever again. If fusing is what it takes to help you see how much I love you..." She trailed off there, willing Yellow to open her eyes and look at what they were doing. Look and see the emotions Blue felt.

Eyelids fluttering, Yellow sighed and started to shake her head. She stopped. Opened her eyes and gazed deep into Blue's. Yes, she could see it, the love. Could taste it on her tongue from the way those words trickled through her ears. "I love you too," she whispered. "You know that, don't you? Despite all my... stupidity?"

Blue giggled again. She closed the very short distance between them, brushing her lips quite teasingly against Yellow's.

An unexpected surge of happiness flooded through the both of them simultaneously, their bodies becoming light, beginning to fuse together-

"M-My Diamond!"

Yellow jerked back so suddenly she tripped over something (possibly her own heel) and crashed down to the grassy ground. Snarling vaguely, she whipped her head around to sneer at her Pearl, seeing Blue stumble backwards a few steps as if dazed out of the corner of her eye.

" _What_?" she snapped.

Her Pearl's arm jerked up; Yellow followed the point of her finger to the bushes they had just traversed through. The Amethyst and the Ruby were standing amidst them, both gaping in shock and rather difficult to see since they were both so _short_. Yellow felt her face and neck flush, appalled, and she rocketed back up to her feet, brushing dirt off. Half of another snarl bubbled past her lips but she stopped herself short, clamping a hand over her mouth.

"Dude," the Amethyst half-grunted, half-laughed.

"Where are the others?" Blue asked in a bit of a flustered gasp.

Amethyst jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Steven and Pearl are talking to Sapphire about Rose... she wanted Ruby to leave her alone for a little while longer so I thought we'd just go back to the temple or somethin'. What are _you two_ doing?" A crooked sort of grin tugged at her lips and she snickered lightly.

"You were about to _fuse_!" Ruby cried, jumping out of the bushes.

"We were _not_ -" Yellow attempted, voice cracking, but the Ruby didn't take any heed to her weak, halfhearted protest.

"O-oh my stars, Blue Diamond, you weren't even - you were _serious_ ," she gasped. "You and Yellow Diamond... but - I can't even believe - this can't just be because of Sapphire and I, can it? I mean, it wasn't us fusing that made you think-?"

Blue smiled softly, letting out a breath of a laugh. "Oh, goodness," she giggled. Tears sparked up in her eyes though she wasn't sure why - she didn't feel _sad_. She brought one hand up to hover over her lips, the other clutching a fistful of the front of her dress. Vaguely she was aware of Yellow glancing rapidly back and forth from her to the Ruby. "Oh, I don't know _what_ I think anymore," she went on. Body trembling. _That_ was what the tears were for - a sudden panic creeping through her entirely. "I-if White were to know - but she mustn't. My goodness, oh, Yellow, you were right, what on Homeworld was I thinking?"

The Ruby jumped lightly. "Oh, no no no, Blue Diamond," she murmured, holding her hands out like she meant to reach out to the blue-skinned gem. "There's nothing wrong with you guys wanting to fuse. I'm sorry, Amethyst and I shouldn't be here. We probably scared you pretty bad, huh?" Taking a step back, she grabbed the Amethyst's hand and tugged her out of the bushes. "We'll leave you be. And don't worry, we won't say a word about this to _anyone_. We promise. Right, Amethyst?"

"Uh... I mean sure, yeah," the Amethyst chuckled hesitantly. "Why not?"

"Thank you," Blue whispered. She shot Yellow a pointed look.

"Ah," her fellow Diamond snorted, "yes. Thank you. We... appreciate it."

The Ruby walked closer to Blue, the Amethyst right on her heels (mainly due to the fact that she was still holding onto the purple-skinned gem's hand, dragging her along) and looked up at her with surprisingly sincere eyes. "Sapphire and I know a lot about fusion," she said, and if Blue was not mistaken she would say there was a distinct coyness to her tone. "Maybe, once she's had a little time - once we've _both_ had a little time - we could show you and Yellow Diamond how it's done." And she _smirked_.

 _Cheeky little thing_ , Blue thought, chuckling. "I would love that, I really would. We probably need all the help we can get."

"Blue," Yellow spluttered, blushing so hard her cheeks were turning positively orange.

"You know, maybe it's not so bad that you're here," the Ruby sighed. "I bet we could all learn a lot. Just... just don't play around with our trust, okay?" She gave a curt nod and dragged the Amethyst along, past Blue and back into the bushes in the direction of the warp pad. The cheerfully innocent tone she'd used caused Blue to laugh, and she spun around on Yellow, surging into her and holding her close. All the panic-filled adrenaline that had suddenly shot through her body dissipated, leaving her feeling somewhat numb and shaky, almost hysterical.

"Blue," Yellow groaned. "You... you..." Her stammering dissolved into laughs as well and she wrapped her arms around her fellow Diamond. "How ridiculous this day has been..." she whispered, taking all of Blue's trembling into her own body.

* * *

 _A/N: Long time no see! My bad.  
_

 _Yellow and Blue's fusion attempt was 100% inspired by Pearl and Rose/Pink almost fusing in "Now We're Only Falling Apart"._

 _One thing I'd like to make clear: I know the SU fandom is kinda split on seeing the Diamonds as sisters vs not, and I'd just like y'all to know that I do NOT see them as sisters. Yes, they're like a family, and White Diamond is certainly the matriarch, but I don't think (certainly in this story) that the Diamonds are/could actually be related in that sense._

 _Anyway, hope y'all liked the chapter! Let me know what you think~_


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